Ecological Economics: Principles
And Applications by Joshua Farley
4.5 Stars.Yes. Speculative Bubbles Inevitably Lead To Economic Downturns
Conventional economics is increasingly criticized for failing to reflect the
value of clean air and water, species diversity, and social and generational
equity. By excluding biophysical and social reality from its analyses and
equations, conventional economics seems ill-suited to address problems in
a world characterized by increasing human impacts and decreasing natural
resources.Ecological Economics is an introductory-level textbook for an
emerging paradigm that addresses this fundamental flaw in conventional
economics. The book defines a revolutionary transdiscipline that
incorporates insights from the biological, physical, and social sciences, and
it offers a pedagogically complete examination of this exciting new field.
The book provides students with a foundation in traditional neoclassical
economic thought, but places that foundation within a new interdisciplinary
framework that embraces the linkages among economic growth,
environmental degradation, and social inequity.Introducing the three core
issues that are the focus of the new transdiscipline -- scale, distribution,
and efficiency -- the book is guided by the fundamental question, often

assumed but rarely spoken in traditional texts: What is really important to
us? After explaining the key roles played by the earth’s biotic and abiotic
resources in sustaining life, the text is then organized around the main
fields in traditional economics: microeconomics, macroeconomics, and
international economics. The book also takes an additional step of
considering the policy implications of this line of thinking.Ecological
Economics includes numerous features that make it accessible to a wide
range of students: more than thirty text boxes that highlight issues of
special importance to students lists of key terms that help students
organize the main points in each chapter concise definitions of new terms
that are highlighted in the text for easy reference study questions that
encourage student exploration beyond the text glossary and list of further
readingsAn accompanying workbook presents an innovative, applied
problem-based learning approach to teaching economics.While many
books have been written on ecological economics, and several textbooks
describe basic concepts of the field, this is the only stand-alone textbook
that offers a complete explanation of both theory and practice. It will serve
an important role in educating a new generation of economists and is an
invaluable new text for undergraduate and graduate courses in ecological
economics, environmental economics, development economics, human
ecology, environmental studies, sustainability science, and community
development.
Personal Review: Ecological Economics: Principles And
Applications by Joshua Farley
Unusual economic times call for unusual economics book reviews, right?
To this end, I am writing a review of an economics textbook. Yes, a
textbook, named Ecological Economics, Principles and Applications by
Herman E. Daly and Joshua Farley. As society navigates through our
global economic meltdown, I keep noticing that a lot of what I read in the
media is fundamentally based on the assumption of an economic return to
the good times. Maybe there will be more regulations; maybe GAAP rules
will be stricter; maybe we'll have fewer or more or different automobile
manufacturers. But surely we'll get back to good ol' growth of the economy
(and how to do it forever), won't we? Far too few writers challenge our
fundamental assumptions about the economy itself-- those same
assumptions we used to dig ourselves into the present financial mess, not
to mention the assumptions at the root of the ecological and human-rights
crises that are now a daily fixture in the news. What if some of our
assumptions about the fundamental purpose and functioning of the
economy were wrong? Shouldn't we fix those old assumptions before we
recreate the same "good times" that resulted in our present bad times? If
the planet were unable to sustain our civilization unless we get the
economy right this time, wouldn't we have an ethical duty to reconsider
some of those assumptions?
Enter Ecological Economics. Ecological economics (EE), as a field of
study, uses the best science available about how the universe behaves, in
order to envision an economy that works within the constraints of nature.

Three fundamental issues are the core of EE: optimal scale of the
economy, just distribution of resources, and efficient allocation. Compare
this to traditional, neo-classical economics, which focuses singularly on
efficient allocation via market mechanisms.
EE breaks down traditional academic silos. If there were laws of physics
which scientists believed to be true under all circumstances-- say, the laws
of thermodynamics --then wouldn't you expect economists to avoid
negating those laws in their model of the economy? And let's say social
scientists found that people do not always make rational, self-motivated
decisions to maximize their happiness. Wouldn't you want economists to
not assume the opposite in their model of how markets operate? EE also
rightfully recognizes the economy as a subsystem within the larger ecology
of the earth. This ecology certainly provides for the economy, but it also
does a lot of other neat stuff. Take, for example, regulating climate and
providing clean air and fresh water, for which there are no manufactured
substitutes. As it turns out, much of that "other neat stuff" is not historically
encompassed by the economy, nor is it amenable to efficient allocation on
a market.
Ecological Economics, as a book, does a fantastic job of outlining the
principles of EE. It explains the failings of old economic assumptions, and
lays out a different set of assumptions grounded in science or rooted in
principles of justice. The book covers its subject with appropriate humility
for a new social science, an uncommon virtue among economic
pontificators. It doesn't claim to have the territory fully mapped, but it is
exploring in the right direction. By this time you've gathered that the book is
not fiction (we'll leave the fiction writing to neo-classical economists), but it
is an enjoyable read. The easy, lucid writing style belies the authors' status
as professors of economics. While the book might not be the optimal read
for laying on the beach, it is fine for lay-people. The book is full of
examples relating the material to the real world, and I find many of the
concepts immediately relevant to how I perceive reality. The content is
nicely structured so you can skip over anything that gets too dense for your
taste. Finally, the book is an efficient read. It is chock full of economic
principles which would have taken me years of fumbling self-study to pick
up on my own. The high-level sections are: An Introduction to Ecological
Economics; The Containing and Sustaining Ecosystem: The Whole;
Microeconomics; Macroeconomics; International Trade; and Policy.
I have heard it said that not all of the book's assertions are grounded in
science or research, which is criticism I assume the authors would strive to
address in future editions. On the whole, however, I find the book to be
well grounded. I'll take Daly & Farley any day, compared to neo-classical
economists who accept as fact the words of an 18th century moral
philosopher. I have also heard the critique that Ecological Economics
doesn't adequately cover the fundamentals of economics, which means a
"real" student of economics would have to go back to a traditional
economics text to fill in the gaps. I would reframe this critique as a

misguided assumption about what students of economics must learn first.
What do you imagine would happen if all budding economists were first
grounded in what science knows of ecology, before internalizing the
historic account of economic thinking which has brought society to our
present global economic break-down? One book does not an economist
make. But if it did, this is the book I would recommend. For the rest of us,
Ecological Economics is a clear, useful, and enjoyable guide to turning
over those old assumptions about what the economy is for and how it
works.
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