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Title: Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment

Abstract

National and international economic policy has usually ignored the environment. In areas where the environment is beginning to impinge on policy, as in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), it remains a tangential concern, and the presumption is often made that economic growth and economic liberalization (including the liberalization of international trade) are, in some sense, good for the environment. This notion has meant that economy-wide policy reforms designed to promote growth and liberalization have been encouraged with little regard to their environmental consequences, presumably on the assumption that these consequences would either take care of themselves or could be dealt with separately. In this article, we discuss the relation between economic growth and environmental quality, and the link between economic activity and the carrying capacity and resilience of the environment.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]; ;  [5];  [6];  [2];  [7];  [8]
  1. Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States)
  2. Univ. of Stockholm (Sweden)
  3. Univ. of Maryland, Solomons, MD (United States)
  4. Cambridge Univ. (United Kingdom)
  5. Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm (Sweden)
  6. Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
  7. Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)
  8. Univ. of York (United Kingdom)
Publication Date:
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
70286
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Science
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 268; Journal Issue: 5210; Other Information: PBD: 28 Apr 1995
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
29 ENERGY PLANNING AND POLICY; ECONOMICS; GLOBAL ASPECTS; ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

Citation Formats

Arrow, K, Bolin, B, Costanza, R, Dasgupta, P, Folke, C, Maeler, K G, Holling, C S, Jansson, B O, Levin, S, and Perrings, C. Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment. United States: N. p., 1995. Web. doi:10.1126/science.268.5210.520.
Arrow, K, Bolin, B, Costanza, R, Dasgupta, P, Folke, C, Maeler, K G, Holling, C S, Jansson, B O, Levin, S, & Perrings, C. Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment. United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.268.5210.520
Arrow, K, Bolin, B, Costanza, R, Dasgupta, P, Folke, C, Maeler, K G, Holling, C S, Jansson, B O, Levin, S, and Perrings, C. 1995. "Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment". United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.268.5210.520.
@article{osti_70286,
title = {Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment},
author = {Arrow, K and Bolin, B and Costanza, R and Dasgupta, P and Folke, C and Maeler, K G and Holling, C S and Jansson, B O and Levin, S and Perrings, C},
abstractNote = {National and international economic policy has usually ignored the environment. In areas where the environment is beginning to impinge on policy, as in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), it remains a tangential concern, and the presumption is often made that economic growth and economic liberalization (including the liberalization of international trade) are, in some sense, good for the environment. This notion has meant that economy-wide policy reforms designed to promote growth and liberalization have been encouraged with little regard to their environmental consequences, presumably on the assumption that these consequences would either take care of themselves or could be dealt with separately. In this article, we discuss the relation between economic growth and environmental quality, and the link between economic activity and the carrying capacity and resilience of the environment.},
doi = {10.1126/science.268.5210.520},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/70286}, journal = {Science},
number = 5210,
volume = 268,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Apr 28 00:00:00 EDT 1995},
month = {Fri Apr 28 00:00:00 EDT 1995}
}