Sustainability: The Economic Bottom Line
Points out that sustainability as such does not provide a clearcut guide to policy. First one has to decide what is to be sustained. If this is agreed, it must be in an operational from. However, difficulties may still emerge since opinions may differ about how to achieve. This is illustrated by differences in the views of economists about how sustainable development is to be achieved. Orthodox economists stress the importance of the accumulation of man-made capital to achieve this end whereas neo-Malthusians stress the importance of conserving natural resource and environmental capital. Both take an anthropocentric point of view. For political reasons the neo-Malthusian has had little support but it may eventually turn out to be correct. Economics is concerned with reducing economic scarcity and economists have traditionally suggested four main ways of doing this of which economic growth is one. However, neo-Malthusian economists believe that this may not be a sustainable strategy – it may result in future poverty. It should be noted that economic systems are embedded in social and natural systems and depend on these. Economic sustainability depends on the sustainability of these other systems. So from this point of view, it is just one of several bottom lines. Values must be considered in relation to sustainability. Economics is completely anthropocentric in its approach. Therefore, economic approaches to conservation and sustainability can be at odds with the values of deep ecologists or those willing to accord rights to other sentient beings or ecosystems independent of human wishes, or those who want to make use of value judgments other than those based on the measuring rod of money. Consequently economics evaluation is sometimes ineffective in resolving social conflict, including conflict about what should be sustained. As a rule economics alone should not be the final arbiter of social decisions. It is a part (often an important part) of the social evaluation process but not the bottom line, or just one of many lines.
Tourism Economics and its Application to Regional Development
Tourism economics is a very broad subject which has been neglected for too long by mainstream economists. Like environmental economics and development economics, it is a subject which calls for interdisciplinary understanding and ideally an interdisciplinary approach. Given the size of the tourism sector and its predicted continuing rapid growth, developing countries such as India and other regions must look carefully at strategies to ensure them of a greater share of this growth. Tourism economics can assist in this planning, but it needs to be supplemented by regional research in the areas wanting to expand tourism as a part of their development strategy. The scope for doing this in India is tremendous. India would benefit from similar tourism analyses to those being undertaken for China.
China's Pastoral Region. Sheep and Wool, Minority Nationalities, Rangeland Degradation, and Sustainable Development
This book is about preserving and improving the livelihood of pastoral communities in northern and north western China. The focus is on sheep and wool; on people who raise the sheep, especially minority nationalities; and on degradation of the rangelands on which the animals and ultimately the herdsmen and their families depend. Since the book is based on extensive fieldwork spanning four and a half years, it is unique in that it presents a comprehensive picture of a remote but fascinating and increasingly important part of the world.