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Ethics and Economics: from the conservation problem to the sustainability debate

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  • José Luis Ramos Gorostiza

    (Department of Economic History and Institutions I, Complutense University of Madrid)

Abstract

This paper discusses briefly how economic thinking on the conservation problem has developed during the twentieth century, culminating finally in the sustainability debate. Specifically, its aim is to emphasize the relevance of Lewis Gray’s contribution. In “The economic possibilities of conservation” (1913), he reinterpreted from an economic point of view the idea of conservation which the American Conservation Movement had popularized, linking intergenerational equity with non-renewable resource extraction rate. In this way, Gray’s article anticipated two significant problems currently debated in environmental economics: the ethical justification for discounting and the problem of intergenerational equity as the basis of the sustainability debate.

Suggested Citation

  • José Luis Ramos Gorostiza, 2003. "Ethics and Economics: from the conservation problem to the sustainability debate," History of Economic Ideas, Fabrizio Serra Editore, Pisa - Roma, vol. 11(2), pages 31-52.
    • Handle: RePEc:hid:journl:v:11:y:2003:2:2:p:31-52
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    Cited by:

    1. Franco, Marco P.V. & Gaspard, Marion & Mueller, Thomas, 2019. "Time discounting in Harold Hotelling's approach to natural resource economics: The unsolved ethical question," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 52-60.
    2. Smessaert, Jacob & Missemer, Antoine & Levrel, Harold, 2020. "The commodification of nature, a review in social sciences," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    3. Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet & Antoine Missemer, 2019. "The Economics of Energy Efficiency, a Historical Perspective," CIRED Working Papers halshs-02301636, HAL.
    4. Missemer, Antoine & Nadaud, Franck, 2020. "Energy as a factor of production: Historical roots in the American institutionalist context," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    5. Roberto Ferreira da Cunha & Antoine Missemer, 2020. "The Hotelling rule in non‐renewable resource economics: A reassessment," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(2), pages 800-820, May.
    6. Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet & Antoine Missemer, 2019. "The Economics of Energy Efficiency, a Historical Perspective," Working Papers halshs-02301636, HAL.

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