J6 - Other Ways of Thinking About the Environment

One of the interesting aspects of my topic is the multiple meanings that could be attached to the word “environment.” Indeed, economics is not concerned with the objective features of things so much as with the subjective meaning attached to the things. For example, many behavioralists point to the price differential between name-brand and generic drugs as an example of human irrationality. But the discerning economist realizes that, although the chemical makeup of the two drugs is roughly the same, the two are, in fact, different goods, and therefore it is not irrational that they command different prices. The chemist sees no difference between the drugs, but the consumer does, so the economist must treat them as different goods.

A complete economic treatment of the environment, then, would need to analyze more than just the natural features of man’s environment. A complete treatment would need to consider the total set of circumstances under which a man acts. Such a treatment would need to address the man-made environment, the social environment, the cultural environment, the institutional environment, etc.

The title of my topic, Market Environmentalism, could therefore refer to a host of topics. How does the market system impact and improve the social environment? The cultural environment? The legal environment? These are all full and interesting topics in their own right, and ones that I would be eager to explore.

However, given the constraints I face, I will be focusing my efforts on environmentalism in the natural sense. Still, I think it will be impossible to avoid these other sense completely. What is market environmentalism, in the sense that I mean it (the improvement in environmental conditions brought about through the market process), but a shift from the natural environment to a man-made environment? Additionally, in the elucidation of my fundamental definitions and assumptions, I think I will need to address the fact that our environment consists of more than trees and rivers.

Hopefully, in the future, I will be able to study the effects of the market on these other senses of “environment” and integrate my findings with the results of this project.