Environment
The interdependence between economic growth and a healthy environment is now clear. Earlier presumptions that robust economic activity must be ruinous to the environment are giving way to a more nuanced understanding of this interdependence.
It is true that modern economic systems, like industrialization and highly productive agriculture can create environmental stresses in the short run.
But researchers and economists are increasingly aware that sustained economic growth helps, not harms, environments in the long run. Indeed, in the words of the academic Jack Hollander, “Poverty, Not Affluence, is Environment’s #1 Enemy.”
Above a certain economic threshold, a clean environment is a luxury only wealthy nations can afford. Only after citizens have satisfied the basic needs for longevity, good health, food, shelter and economic security are they in a position to demand high environmental standards. But they inevitably do.
Interest groups who care about environmental quality should champion policies that encourage economic growth. Yet, few, if any, do. This is one reason World Growth was founded, to educate policymakers about the connection between robust economic and improved environmental well-being.
We often hear today about the need for “sustainable development.” The original concept envisaged development strategies which advanced economic growth and improved protection of the environment in parallel. Today they have become buzzwords that imply that economic development must be subordinated to environmental objectives and, more often than not, managed by environmental bureaucrats.
History shows us the most degraded environments are found where there is little development, as desperately poor citizens, without technology, in mal-functioning markets, over-exploit their environs. Insufficient development is the problem, not inattention to sustainable development.
The example of the former Soviet Union, where industrialization caused the greatest environmental devastation of any modern society, demonstrates as well the importance of free markets and democracy to provide the feedback from the people and the accountability of government which are essential underpinnings for real sustainable development.
Those who want improved ecological health must support the political and social institutions that yield clean and healthy environments. These include protection of private property, the rule of law, free trade and democratic institutions.
It is true that modern economic systems, like industrialization and highly productive agriculture can create environmental stresses in the short run.
But researchers and economists are increasingly aware that sustained economic growth helps, not harms, environments in the long run. Indeed, in the words of the academic Jack Hollander, “Poverty, Not Affluence, is Environment’s #1 Enemy.”
Above a certain economic threshold, a clean environment is a luxury only wealthy nations can afford. Only after citizens have satisfied the basic needs for longevity, good health, food, shelter and economic security are they in a position to demand high environmental standards. But they inevitably do.
Interest groups who care about environmental quality should champion policies that encourage economic growth. Yet, few, if any, do. This is one reason World Growth was founded, to educate policymakers about the connection between robust economic and improved environmental well-being.
We often hear today about the need for “sustainable development.” The original concept envisaged development strategies which advanced economic growth and improved protection of the environment in parallel. Today they have become buzzwords that imply that economic development must be subordinated to environmental objectives and, more often than not, managed by environmental bureaucrats.
History shows us the most degraded environments are found where there is little development, as desperately poor citizens, without technology, in mal-functioning markets, over-exploit their environs. Insufficient development is the problem, not inattention to sustainable development.
The example of the former Soviet Union, where industrialization caused the greatest environmental devastation of any modern society, demonstrates as well the importance of free markets and democracy to provide the feedback from the people and the accountability of government which are essential underpinnings for real sustainable development.
Those who want improved ecological health must support the political and social institutions that yield clean and healthy environments. These include protection of private property, the rule of law, free trade and democratic institutions.