The limits to growth then and now

In this paper the indications of the 1972 report of the club of Rome about the relationship between environment and economic growth are reviewed and compared to the ideas debated nowadays on the same topic. The implications of the stages of growth approach and of the economic growth models are considered. Market failure has a central role when the environment is considered. Hence the main problems of policy design and evaluation and their implications for international cooperation, as studied in a burgeoning literature, are presented.