I really enjoyed this book. I've read about +10 books lately on economics, the environment, the food industry, politics and books that try to combine some of these topics. Of these, Wagner's is one of the best. It would be great for anyone who wants an economics theory-in-practice-based understanding of environmental problems and their possible economics-based solutions.
Wagner focuses on the tension between free markets and the environment. On the one hand, we owe all the luxuries and technological progress of our 21st C lifestyles to a certain economic structure (free markets), and on the other hand our collective lifestyles (especially the more 'advanced' among the global population) is leading the world into environmental ruin. We love our lifestyles, we love the environment, and yet something's gotta give sooner or later. Aware of this fact, the knee-jerk eco-enlightened reaction is for us as individuals to minimize our carbon footprint (think, No Impact Man)--and that's hard to do, and most of us don't even know which of our choices have the biggest impact, and the entire structure of our lifestyles limits our eco-friendly options, not that it really matters b/c the planet won't notice. Although a book would be nice that shows us all the relative eco-consequences of my day-to-day individual choices, Wagner does not write such a book--he has a bigger fish to fry (or rescue!). Instead, he focuses on the kinds of changes that would need to happen in OUR way of life, as a whole, as a society, at the level of countries and the world. That is the only way real change can happen, that's the only way the planet will 'notice'. This is a big picture (structural)problem and it requires a big picture (structural) solution. What solutions can economics provide? That's what I take to be the guiding question of the book. He's exploring the kinds of eco-problems/economic structure solutions that address the big picture.
Wagner presents a number of case studies of various environmental problems, their origins (political, economic, technological) and what we can do about them. There are various environmental problems, not just one (and that's why this is NOT just a book about cap-and-trade), and so there is no silver bullet. Wagner introduces the reader to the economist's toolkit--of models, incentive structures, etc. Some of these case studies show us how bad economics (or bad policies) made things worse, and how the right kind of policies can save the day. Wagner does what good economists are supposed to do, as Mankiw starts his own economics book and as Wagner himself cites--'people face trade offs'. Wagner tackles various environmental problems, past and present, and shows how some policies failed, others succeeded, and why. In short, he articulates what the options are and what the trade offs are for those various options. Sometimes there are win-win scenarios, sometimes a lose-lose, and more often than not, a win-lose, where we 'win' in the short run (by enjoying an eco-unfriendly lifestyle) and the environment 'loses' in the long run. Traditional economic structures have tended towards this win-lose scenario via privatized profits and socialized costs (which will ultimately lead to a lose-lose), and Wagner's job (or hope) is to show how we can use better economic structures/policies to create win-wins, so that the trade offs are not so devastating for our lifestyles (as a whole) or the environment.
Now what I wrote above deliberately does not go into any one specific environmental problem. And that's the point of my review. I want to show the general structure of how Wagner approaches the economics/environment tension, and why there's no silver bullet. His structure is clear, the strategy effective, and the exposition illuminating.
I finished the book feeling a bit more optimistic and less cynical about economists' abilities to find solutions to the most pressing environmental problems. There is not a *necessary* opposition or conflict between (relatively) free markets and the environment. I'm still pessimistic that policy makers will not implement the very best ideas--and Wagner discusses these obstacles--but at least there is hope. With Wagner's help, that hope has a bit more intellectual grounding as I continue to read and chat about economics, the environment and various policy debates.
