The course introduces students to core concepts of sustainability in economics and the quantitative methods necessary to understand and evaluate sustainable development. This is a core upper-level course in sustainability concepts and methods developed specifically for the EEDS major. Based on concepts from environmental and resource economics, which are well-established fields of economics, it also incorporates concepts from ecological economics, which is a more interdisciplinary field that combines elements of economics and ecology. We will consider sustainability methods used by economists, such as wealth accounting, as well as some methods used largely outside of economics, such as ecological footprint analysis. We will apply the tools and concepts acquired in the class to analyze existing sustainability policies in the US and globally.
Defining a sustainable economy requires that we grapple with unresolved questions about the sustainability of our current economic systems. These are some deep questions, including: What are the constraints to economic production and consumption that are imposed by the Earth’s ecosystem? What are the trade-offs in terms of the economy, environment, and human well-being that are implied by these constraints? What trade-offs are we willing and able to make as individuals and as a society to achieve a more sustainable economy? What are the best policies, including the right incentives for individuals, firms, communities, and nations, to reach this goal? While there is no single “right answer” to any of these questions, there are key concepts and theories that provide a framework for defining a sustainable economy and tools and methods for evaluating the sustainability of economic activities within a given region (e.g., country or community) or enterprise.