ECONOMICSANDTHEECOSYSTEM

By:KennethE.Boulding

Summary:

TheworkofKennethBouldingissometimescitedasbeingfoundationaltotheunderstandingof
how the economy interacts with the environment and particularly of relevance to ecological
economists.Themainreferencemadeinthisregardistohisseminalessayusingthemetaphor
of planet Earthas aspaceship. Inthis paperthat essay andrelated work is placedbothwithin
historical context of the environmental movement and developments in the thought on
environment-economyinteractions.
The issues of power, social justice, institutional and social relationships are ones absent, but
also ones which Boulding, near the end of his life, finally recognised as key to addressing the
growingenvironmentalcrises.

REFLECTION:

Wemustnotbeunderdelusionsofgrandeur.Mandidnotcauseanypreviousecologicalcatastrophes
Hecertainlydidnotcauseiceages.
Mr. Kenneth Boulding believes that man did not cause the dire effects of ecological problems
that wehavebeen experiencing at this point intimebecause inhis own views, the earth is in
thegripofdynamicprocessesforlargerthananymancouldevermuster.Heevengaveasan
example the fate of those endangered species including the mammoth and whales as a
testimony of mans skill as a predator which like many other species also did to survive.
Ecologicallyspeaking,perhaps,becauseofhiswiderangeoftolerance,hisremarkablecapacity
for surviving in a wide variety of environments make him become dominant or superior in the
environment with some old and new species which likewise able to survive as the earth
constantly evolves. We are not different from other species who compete for food and to
anything that potentially favors our survival but because we have the mental capacity to make
decisionsandtothinkforwhatisgoodforus,weareabletooutcompeteotherorganisms.
TheauthorsmeantbymansinnocenceforthepresenceofevilinthisworldisofwhichIdonot
concurforwecannotdenythefactthatourimpacttotheearthisalsosomethingthatwehaveto
worry about. Just like nowadays, mans impact on earth have reach to higher level due to the
advances of mans knowledge in Science and most of all, Economic phenomena and
organizationsthatasaresult,havenowcreatedanintrinsiccompetitionamongsinglehuman
species.
Theauthorsgreatestconcernisonhowtomakepayoffsasaresultofouractions.Economics
andecosystemduetoitscomplexinteractionswithMan,incontrolcontributedtothechangesin
our environment in the form of artifacts and commodities. And since, we want an improved
quality standard of living, many products of applied science had immersed and which possibly
causesthebandwagoneffectwherepeople'spreferenceforacommodityincreasesasthenumberof
people buying itincreases. Thisinteraction potentially disturbs the normal results of the theory ofsupply
anddemand,whichassumesthatconsumersmakebuyingdecisionssolelybasedonpriceandtheirown
personalpreference.Infact,GaryBeckerhasevenarguedthatthebandwagoneffectcouldbesostrong
as to make the demand curve slope upward.(en.wikipedia.org). Because of this, many people who are
beingcalledconsumersneversatisfiedintheirlifestylessotheydependmore andmoretothisproducts
and technologies.. it had changed the mindset of every individual thus, man had seen this effect to his
fellows thus, used his intelligence to make this as his source of living through acceptance of money as
payment for these goods and services. As we all know, from the time, economics exists, money
hasbeenthemediumforexchangeofallthepeopleandthemoreofitonehas,themoreone
wants.Withmoneyyoucanbuyanythingaccordingtoyourpreferenceandthatineffectpaved
the way for introducing various products. But unknowingly, the more we consume, the more
changeswecontributetoecology.Sowecantblamedtheeconomiststofavoreffluenttaxes,
marketablelicensesandotherdevicesthatwillmakeprivateandsocialcoststocoincide.Ifwe
want the goods, we put up the bads so no solution of these problems is possible without
appropriate economic institutions. Science is value-free but not economics. Human well-being is
dependent upon "ecosystem services" provided by nature for free. Such services include water provision, air
purification, fisheries, timber production and nutrient cycling to name a few. These are predominantly public goods
withnomarketsandnoprices,sotheirlossoftenisnotdetectedbyourcurrenteconomicincentivesystemandcan
thuscontinuesunabatedbutasaresultisthedegradationofourecosystemswhichsadlymadetheworldspoorto
suffer(http://ec.europa.eu).

Theproducts ofthe scientific knowledge are just given pricebyeconomics whichis being run
bynootherthan.THEHUMANS.