Classical economics developed without concern for natural resource conservation or the value and preservation of intact ecosystems. In fact exploitation of natural resources; processing them as quickly and quantitatively as possible to cash them in for market products was normal. With seven billion plus souls on Earth and finite Earth resources that custom is counterproductive to human survival in the long term on this planet. Ecological economics is cognizant of those facts and develops understanding and methods for integrating classical and environmental elements positively.
Classical economics hasn’t a capacity to recognize values beyond those of supply and demand in the market. Capitalism is blind to the values of non-market-profitable environmental conservation set-asides by government and generally cannot value non-marketable environmental services values. The field of trying to market environmental services positively, at least to governments has gotten a small start.
Classical economics with capitalism would calculate values for the last healthy natural resources of a dying world if cashed out and sold for scrap in the market, Classical economics need be upgraded to a new version integrated synthetically with environmental vision to become ecological economics. In a sense there are no limits to the potential profit resulting from the synthesis of classical economics with environment to one of ecological economics. Minimizing adding entropy to economic procedures could become a coefficient for adding value to economic products.
Nature and living ecology elements evolved to create greatly complex structures within an integrated and wholistic environment. Specific biological adaptations occurred within the complex complex of ecosystem compresence; deleting through displacement or economic use to extinction affects every other element of the ecosystem. With enough entropy, or disorganization added to an ecosystem the complete ecosystem may break down with many of its elements unable to survive independently.
Economic practices are cultural means of processing articles for life. Like invention synthetic compounding of ideas to form a new idea economic methods, knowledge and applications evolve. The idea of interacting positively with the ecosphere to conserve or build it is new. New ideas may be challenging to introduce to human economic practice. Practical applications of theory, new ideas or inspiration need occur experimentally in testable circustance generally before spreading to broad, common sense use. With the human reluctance to change from presently profitable methods (if it ain’t broke don’t fix it), expanding the economic skill set to include getting more value from the ecosystem through using it better is challenging- especially since the science is new and requires ongoing improvement just as classical economics continues to improve its knowledge base through trial and error often in real world applications.
The cult of controlling inflation as a way to govern U.S. economic well-being is a case in point of the focus of classical economics on trendy ways of continuing the flow of money through the polity in traditional courses. With more than 31 trillion dollars of public debt and decade of Federal Reserve loans of trillions of dollars of zero or low interest loans to wealthy banks that in turn could electronically mint and loan four dollars for each loaned dollar from the Federal Reserve monetary policy as a method for adjusting the inflation rate and employment rate along a Phillips Curve or post-Phillips Curve tensor is like building public policy on an ice-covered lake during an era of global warming. Conserving the environmental health or even restoring it are not large blips on the radar screen of classical economic managers as things to be concerned about.
The rate of inflation and national employment rate are at any rate dubiously reactionary to monetary policy in an era where post-Cold War the global labor supply available for U.S. corporations to outsource jobs has risen 400% Complex offshore employment, transport, health and technology factors affect the cost of products and prices available for Americans. Supply and demand elements from illegal labor domestically to sanctions and belligerence on trade relations may alter domestic price balances. Monetary policy may alter international trade balances from positive to negative. Segregating Russia from the U.S. economy affected Americans as has and will U.S. Chinese business relations in several was as U.S. investors are banned or discouraged from further Chinese partnerships for production. The international economic relations are of course quite complex concerning China and India in regard to U.S. investment and production sites for exporting products to the world and the United States. It will make a difference of most Wal-Mart products sold in the U.S.A. are made in China or India; and it will make a difference if the brick nations become more prosperous and begin to view the U.S foreign policy as that of a rival rather than just a capitalist investor taking more than 50% off the top in return for direct investment.
Ecological economic methods developed and led by the United States would become a transcendent phenomena catalyzing positive U.S. and developing nations relationships. If the U.S. eliminate poverty and creates a minimum national income with free lifetime continuing education the leadership would demonstrate a positive example to the developing nations and create some trust that the U.S.A. is more than a capitalist entity seeking to exploit or devour underdeveloped national economies.
Political candidates that comprehend even the definition of ecological economics would be a positive improvement in U.S. Presidential races. Ecosystem services is a developing field within ecological economics yet does not entail more than a fraction of its potential. Ecosystem service approaches recognize the value that ecosystem have in cash terms to human societies such as in filtering water that are lost with human developments that degrade or destroy those services. Most citizens don’t think about ecosystem services except perhaps for aesthetic/recreational values of wilderness areas. Ecosystem services are renewable naturally. When entropy with its chaos disrupts or kills those services they may be irreplaceable. Aquifers may remain uncharged or polluted so long as rivers run. The potential profitability of ecological economics political and financially surpasses that of classical economics especially in the modern world laden with great new technology and vistas on Earth and beyond.
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