You Can't Eat Gnp: Economics As Though Ecology Mattered [Hardcover]

Eric Davidson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 2000

In this lively, concise, and hard-hitting book, Eric Davidson makes available to readers the exciting new ideas of ecological economists, who have been revolutionizing and greening the once "dismal science." Redefining economic concepts to allow for the primacy of our water, air, soil, and forests, he reveals the necessary steps to a genuine, rather than illusory, prosperity.Most estimates of wealth today are based upon gross domestic product, and many economists even see future wealth being created free of the constraints set by natural resources. Eric Davidson, scientist at the famed Woods Hole Research Center, calls such thinking "Marie Antoinette economics" and reveals its grave underlying fallacies. In valuing land or forests, for instance, we tend to discount their future value for our own children; in analyzing costs and benefits, the price of these natural resources upon which we ultimately depend is usually wrong; and damages to these resources are seen as "externalities." Davidson exposes these fallacies and offers a blueprint for a truly sustainable economy.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Eric A. Davidson's engaging and informative book couldn't have come at a more timely moment. In an age when high technology is driving our economy and propelling us further from the ecological system that physically supports us, You Can't Eat GNP sends a loud and urgent message: the economic system will fail if the ecosystem is not carefully managed.

As Davidson explains, the system of neoclassical economics, which governs our economy, assigns value to goods depending on the level at which they're produced and consumed. For example, marketed consumer products like bread hold high value, while bread's main ingredient, flour, holds less. Flour in its unprocessed form, wheat, holds even less value, and the soil from which wheat is grown holds the least worth of all. This triangle has become an exact inversion of the ecologist's pyramid, however, in which soil--which supports the entire ecological system, from plants to herbivores to carnivores--is viewed as the pyramid's stabilizing resource. Davidson argues these opposing models must be integrated in order to preserve the ecological system that sustains our economic system. He doesn't propose a "back to nature" solution, nor does he negate the importance of technological developments stimulated by our present mode of economics. He does, however, agree with R.H. Tawney's observation that "If economic ambitions are good servants, they are bad masters." Davidson examines the environmental effects of rigidly employed economic values such as cost-benefit analysis and considers the inevitable economic effects of global warming, waste disposal, and the failure to pursue sustainability. Though his proposals for change are not extensive, he does offer workable (and sometimes controversial) suggestions for both individual and community action.

An author as well as a respected scientist, Davidson writes in clear, lucid prose, making the sciences of economics and ecology accessible to the nonscientific reader, without dumbing down his arguments. He supports his points with relevant, contemporary examples, highlighting the vital importance of managing the economy in conjunction with the environment. As this intelligent treatise wryly reminds us, no matter how booming the economy, we'll never be able to eat our gross national product. --S. Ketchum

About the Author

Eric A. Davidson, Ph.D., senior scientist at the Woods Hole Research Center, conducts research in forestry and soil science, currently in the Brazilian rainforest, and has held research positions at Berkeley and NASA.

George M. Woodwell, Ph.D., renowned ecologist and president of the Woods Hole Research Center, is a founding director of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (April 25, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738202762
• ISBN-13: 978-0738202761
• Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #875,923 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Redefining Global Priorities, May 17, 2000

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: You Can't Eat Gnp: Economics As Though Ecology Mattered (Hardcover)

The title is explained in Chapter 1 when Davidson examines three fallacies of the current mainstream economic and technological model. At least one economist has argued that there is no need to worry about global warning because the only sector of the economy affected by it -- agriculture -- contributes only 3% of the United States' GNP. Davidson observes: "Like Marie Antoinette's suggestion that the French peasants without bread could eat cake [more accurately, crumbs from a bread pan], this view of how the world works seems to suggest that if the crops fail, the people could eat the 97% of the GNP which remains." This is Fallacy #1: "Marie Antoinette Economics."

The second fallacy naively asserts that the technological "cavalry" will come over the hill in time to save us from economic disaster; the third fallacy incorrectly assumes that, because of certain modest improvements of the quality of air and water, environmental pollution is no longer a serious problem. Davidson's purpose is to examine the implications and consequences of these fallacies. He believes (and I wholeheartedly agree) that economic realities and environmental imperatives are NOT mutually exclusive; on the contrary, they are interdependent.

One bestselling tee-shirt proclaims "We're Having a Great Time Spending Our Children's Inheritance!" In a sense, that is what Davidson has in mind when lamenting the relentless depletion of the earth's natural resources to achieve short-term financial objectives. To illustrate his key points, he introduces two pyramids in Chapter 2. One shows how dependent we are on a stable resource as our base; the second (inverted) pyramid shows how the principle of supply and demand results in a relentless reduction of that base. According to Davidson, the priorities of ecology and economics can be accommodated if certain prudent national and international measures are initiated and then sustained. These he proposes in Chapter 9:

1. Stop building new roads.

2. Eliminate tax reductions for more than two children in countries that have income taxes.

3. Reduce taxes on income and increase taxes on consumption.

4. Eliminate governmental subsidies, such as water projects that hinder the market forces that would otherwise promote water conservation, more prudent use of groundwater, and prevent soil salinization.

5. Support governmental and nongovernmental extension efforts to encourage farmers in both industrialized and developing countries to make more efficient use of their land while conserving soil and using only essential quantities of fertilizers and pesticides.

6. Eliminate governmental subsidies for industrial fisheries and foster agreements among nations and among and within communities to protect the fisheries commons. 7. Ratify and enforce the binding international agreement reached in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997 reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

8. Negotiate international agreements on maintaining forest cover and managing forests to maximize genetic diversity of plants and animals.

What if we don't take these and other initiatives? Davidson has written this book in direct response to that question. In ways and to an extent many of us do not realize, there has been an on-going process of discounting, devaluing, and degrading the earth's environment. Davidson is somewhat encouraged by certain developments (albeit isolated and inadequate) which suggest that there is at least some increased awareness of the various problems. He is fully aware of the great difficulty of changing the minds of policymakers, business leaders, voters, and consumers by helping them to understand -- and properly value -- the "essential links" between ecology and economics. Davidson makes a substantial contribution to the achievement of that objective.

If you share my high regard for this book, I suggest that you check out Natural Capitalism, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, and Holding On to Reality..

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lend this book!, August 1, 2000

By 

Thomas M. Martin (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: You Can't Eat Gnp: Economics As Though Ecology Mattered (Hardcover)

If the fundamental concept in economics is scarcity, why has it proven so impotent, if not downright counterproductive, when it comes to addressing environmental issues? This question is of central importance to those, like Eric Davidson, would like to see "ecological economics" enter public discourse and the policy-making arena.

This is an informative book written in a very engaging, if polemical style. As the subtitle (Economics as if Ecology Mattered) suggests, the general approach is to contrast the ways ecologists and economists look at the natural environment and to show how traditional economic theory encourages resource depletion and pollution. That may sound like a mouthful, but Davidson's approach is to introduce, illustrate, and even popularize economic concepts (pricing, cost-benefit analysis, marginal analysis, discount rates, and externalities) from the critical perspective of an ecologist. Along the way, he invents some "fallacies" (which, arguably, he also succumbs to), provides graphic visualization aids to contrast the different ways ecologists' and economists' view natural resources, and he explores some interesting case studies and possibilities based on his own work in the Brazilian rainforest. As an introduction to both environmental studies and basic concepts in (micro)economics, the book succeeds on two levels. (As an introduction to macroeconomics and sustainability, it probably succeeds on only one - environmental studies.)

Unfortunately, the strengths of the book, namely, its simplicity, also point to its weaknesses. For anyone who, like Davidson, has been struggling along this same path (me, for instance), it seems clear that Davidson's book cannot hope to convince professional economists or policy-makers who, to give them credit, possess far more theoretical virtuosity than Davidson's arguments might suggest. To make matters worse, popular works of (micro)economics are often written by economists who are staunch libertarians, and their counterarguments would be...well, it wouldn't be pretty. They inhabit a theoretical universe which does not recognize a "precautionary principle" higher than free choice, and they abhor the kinds of government intervention and regulation that Davidson's brand of environmental economics suggests. Indeed, most of the time Davidson is arguing for a normative (what should be), rather than a positive (what is) brand of ecological economics that is never made explicit (enough). Ultimately these kinds of theoretical differences boil down to questions about human nature, and the darker, greedier view of humans, who blindly follow their self-interest and `trash the commons', has a proven, if hardly illustrious, record in both theory and practice. Davidson's critique notwithstanding, one can't help but fear for the fate of homo ecologicus who pursues long-term sustainability, but is forced to compete with homo economicus who sees only short-term gains.

In his conclusion, Davidson makes some suggestions about what kinds of constructive steps individuals can make on their own. Foremost among them is to `lend this book to someone who is unlikely to buy literature on science, economics, and the environment.' Frankly, since he is preaching to the converted when it comes to me, I will follow his suggestion and lend the book out. But I also intend to follow his recommendation regarding audience - which underscores my only caveat.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a perfect little book, September 7, 2001

By 

Bryna Griffin (Arlington, VA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: You Can't Eat Gnp: Economics As If Ecology Mattered (Merloyd Lawrence Book) (Paperback)

This book is great for the beginner in environmental economics. For someone who is concerned about the environment but insecure about defending arguments against those with some economic background, here is you ammunition. It is easy to read and full of examples of how natural resources are not taken into account properly in current economic theory, and therefore not conserved as they should be. It is a basic idea but this book maps it out wonderfully. I think this would be a great read for intro level environmental studies courses in high school or college.