Managing Our Environmental Portfolio

No set of issues has tended to separate economists and ecologists, especially in the mind of the public, more than those surrounding the linkages between economic growth, human carrying capacity, and the environment. The general lack of interest among the majority of economists in problems of the environment and a parallel lack of interest among the majority of ecologists in economic issues, combined with a lack of dialogue between the two groups, has allowed extreme positions to take hold in the public debate and to influence policy to an inordinate degree.