Ecologists and environmentalists believe that one principal reason for the existence of the environmental problem stems from the emphasis on the growth by the industrialized nations.
Economic Development And
Environmental Issues
Ecologists and environmentalists
believe that one principal reason for the existence of the environmental
problem stems from the emphasis on the growth by the industrialized nations.
They point out that economic growth has been made possible only at the expense
of the environment.
Ecologists postulate that growth
rates were so high, because of the fantastic increase in population and demands
of the society. Increased production and consumption had unscrupulously
released wastes and pollutants into the environment without consideration of
their effects.
Fast growth has resulted in the
destruction of the environment, the impairment in the quality of elemental
environmental services, the deterioration of air quality and the contamination
of seas, rivers, lakes, etc. These were not taken into account in economic
calculations. The loss and deterioration of important environmental goods went
relatively unnoticed. In short, the social costs of growth were not included in
economic analyses.
Economists who analyze in a
straight jacket always contend that sustained economic growth increases human
welfare. These economists base their arguments on international companies in
terms of the value of goods and services produced in the economy. To put in shortly,
they compare gross national product (GNP) in terms of dollar value to assess
the economic growth of nations. Countries feel highly satisfied if their gnp
graph shows an ascending tendency, year after year and they proclaim that they
are forward.
But, the measurement of economic
growth in terms of output of goods and services (GNP) is rather faulty. It
takes into consideration the national product only. It does not consider the
national disproduct in the process of production. Billions of dollars worth of
cigarettes produced in the economy have been brought under the calculation of
GNP per year. It does not take into consideration the external cost, the
pollution it creates, the diseases it spreads in the society among smokers and
silent smokers.
These are the disproducts of the nation. Edward F. Denison considers that air and water pollution and also the solid wastes generated in the process of production as the real costs of economic growth. He has suggested that value of the deterioration to environment by these real costs should be deducted from NNP to contain a better. In this context, samuelson’s NEW(Net Economic Welfare) is worth considering as very appropriate, whereby the national disproducts are deducted from the national product. Measure of output.
The role of environment and the need for maintaining the quality of the environment have emerged recently as important issue and has assumed greater importance in the context of several ecological disasters in many parts of the globe in recent times.
Barry commoner has analyzed the interaction of three major factors influencing environmental impact. They are:
- Per capita availability of goods
- Pollution per unit of economic good.
The environmental impact (ei) is given as follows This enables us to estimate the
contributions of the three factors to the environmental impact, viz., The size
of the population, per capita production or consumption; and the pollutant
generated per unit of production or consumption. Thus, environmental impact
represents the environmental cost of a given economic process. By the economic
process, agencies external to the eco- system is produced and which tends to
degrade its capacity for self-adjustment.
According
to kenneth boulding, “the world is finite and the resources
are scarce”. Man out of greed exploits this earth, as if its resources are
limitless, to enrich himself in his pursuit of economic growth. If this is
continued by man who is too much enterprising, soon “we will have a plundered
plant”.
Tags : Business Environment and Law-Business And Its Environment
Last 30 days 223 views