Purpose – This paper draws upon the work of Georgescu-Roegen to outline some theoretical alternatives to standard welfare theory, and to examine the policy implications of discarding the Walrasian core of neoclassical economics. Design/methodology/approach – Current work in behavioral...

Many of the early debates about economic methodology, marginalism versus discontinuous change, stasis versus turbulence, co‐operation versus competition, were at base questions of general scientific methodology. During the past 20 years or so there has been a virtual revolution in the field of...

Neo‐classical utility theory has withstood several decades of sustained criticism. Its success has been due (1) to the ability of the theory to represent an essentially non‐analytical process by analytical methods, and (2) to the fact that the theory was developed for, and applied to,...

The description “bio‐economics” is currently being claimed by two opposing schools of thought. For one group of economists, led by Kenneth Boulding, Herman Daly and Nicholas Georgescu‐Roegen, the term is chosen to emphasise the biological foundations of our economic activity. They remind...

Purpose – This paper draws upon the work of Georgescu‐Roegen to outline some theoretical alternatives to standard welfare theory, and to examine the policy implications of discarding the Walrasian core of neoclassical economics. Design/methodology/approach – Current work in behavioral...

Examines the impact of humans on the Earth, and how natural resources are related to economic wellbeing. Links evolution and increases in population to natural causes. Discusses the co‐evolution of nature and society, and the unsustainable system that humans have created. Shows how...

Among biologists it is generally recognized that market activity is having a devastating effect on the biological world. The current worldwide loss of biodiversity may be of the same order of magnitude as the five mass extinctions which have decimated life on earth during the past 500 million...

Resource use policy based on standard (neoclassical) economic theory is driven by the assumption that “getting the prices right” is the key to sustainable resource use. Although most neo‐classical economists now agree that market prices may substantially undervalue biological features, the...