Comments on: Economics and the environment, part 1 http://bioblog.biotunes.org/bioblog/2008/03/11/economics-and-the-environment-part-1/ Biology News Biology Blog Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:11:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Anonymous http://bioblog.biotunes.org/bioblog/2008/03/11/economics-and-the-environment-part-1/#comment-98 Anonymous Tue, 13 May 2008 22:02:00 +0000 http://bioblog.biotunes.org/bioblog/?p=100#comment-98 <i>(This is despite the obvious counter argument that a genuine government mandate to develop alternative energy sources would spur a whole new economy for the U.S. However, the tangible economic benefits would not be immediate, but long term, which does not play well in capitalist societies.)</i><br/><br/>Creating an industry whose only contribution to society is to satisfy a government regulation would 'create' an economy just like breaking all the windows in a city would lead to a boom in the glass industry. <br/><br/>But economically literate people wouldn't make the mistake of calling that a benefit. (This is despite the obvious counter argument that a genuine government mandate to develop alternative energy sources would spur a whole new economy for the U.S. However, the tangible economic benefits would not be immediate, but long term, which does not play well in capitalist societies.)

Creating an industry whose only contribution to society is to satisfy a government regulation would ‘create’ an economy just like breaking all the windows in a city would lead to a boom in the glass industry.

But economically literate people wouldn’t make the mistake of calling that a benefit.

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