Radical Ecological Economics and Accounting to Save the Planet

Book excerpt: The solutions and tools generally offered to policymakers on environmental issues – such as carbon pricing and environmental taxation – most often emanate from neoclassical economists. This book shows that the tools of these economists are ineffective for the job and must be replaced by methods from the sphere of ecological accounting. The work has four main themes: First, the book provides a presentation and criticism of the tools traditionally proposed by neoclassical economists. Adopting a historical perspective, this section shows how these tools have evolved over time and explores some of the theoretical criticisms which have been leveled at them. Second, the book shows how mainstream economists have moved away from more pragmatic and efficient solutions because of their ignorance of the realities of management, in particular, corporate accounting, and their ideologically driven desire to avoid attacking the capitalist model. Third, a toolkit of anti-capitalist ecological accounting is outlined, showcasing the distinct advantages of this approach for the environmental crises. And finally the book considers the concrete possibilities of a rapid application of these new tools to combat the immediate threats we are facing. The book will interest all readers who want to understand how anti-capitalist ecological accounting can contribute to cooling and saving the planet, in particular readers in ecological economics and accounting.