From "cowboy" economy to "spaceman" economy, and nine other essential papers that founded ecological economics
“Space cowboy” prompt to Midjourney
A very useful X thread from Andrew Fanning, an ecological economist who does Research and Data Analysis for Doughnut Economics, and “explores a good life for all within planetary boundaries at http://goodlife.leeds.ac.uk”. Andrew lists “10 papers in ecological economics that changed me”:
1. The Economics of the Coming Spaceship Earth (Boulding, 1966).
Concisely covers most core principles of ecological economics, comparing the “cowboy” economy we have with the “spaceman” economy we need.
2. In Defense of a Steady-State Economy (Daly, 1972)
This essay picks up, and masterfully refutes, many critiques and obfuscations from ‘growthmaniacs’ – drawing on the concept of a steady-state economy that Daly pioneered.
3. Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot? Some Empirical Evidence (Easterlin, 1974)
Paradox: people on higher incomes are typically happier than lower-income people at a point in time, but income growth doesn't produce greater happiness over time.
4. Energy and the U.S. Economy: A Biophysical Perspective (Cleveland et al., 1984)
‘Energy return on investment’ (EROI) study shows how energy use and output are tightly coupled, with increasing labour productivity related to higher energy per worker.
5. Ecological Footprints and Appropriated Carrying Capacity: What Urban Economics Leaves Out (Rees, 1992)
Evaluates a city’s ‘ecological footprint’ in terms of total land area needed for consumption, based on the concept of human carrying capacity.
6. Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System (Meadows, 1999)
Proposes a brilliant list of twelve places to intervene in a system, in increasing order of effectiveness, based on systems theory.
7. The Trajectory of the Anthropocene: The Great Acceleration (Steffen et al., [2004] 2015)
Shows a dramatic change in the rate of humanity’s global impact from ~1950 onwards, by analysing a set of 24 socio-economic and Earth-system indicators from 1750.
8. Managing Without Growth (Victor and Rosenbluth, 2007)
Uses a dynamic simulation model calibrated for Canada to show that full employment, poverty eradication, and ecological targets could all be achieved without relying on economic growth.
9. From Constraint to Sufficiency: The Decoupling of Energy and Carbon from Human Needs, 1975–2005 (Steinberger and Roberts, 2010)
Investigates cross-country links between measures of human development compared to energy consumption and carbon emissions.
10. A Safe and Just Space for Humanity: Can We Live Within the Doughnut? (Raworth, 2012)
Presents the doughnut-shaped framework of social and planetary boundaries, visualising the goal to meet the needs of all people within the means of the living planet.