Since late 2010 and continuing into 2011, price volatility, in relation to basic agricultural commodities, has occupied center stage on the agendas of decision makers. An additional concern has been uncertainty about a new global economic crisis in the wake of the macroeconomic difficulties...

Explicitly accounting for certain basic physical laws governing the “earth” sector dramatically enriches our ability to explain a high degree of diversity in observed patterns of economic growth. We provide a theoretical explanation of why some countries have been able to sustain a more or...

This paper explores the conditions for sustainable development through two models of economic growth that elucidates two extremes; an open economy with constant prices, and a closed economy with endogenous prices. Sustainable development is easier to achieve in the case of the former than the...

Cost-benefit analyses of health and safety regulations require estimates of the benefits of reducing pollution, and hence the risks of pollution-caused illnesses. Lost work income constitutes an important component of monetized benefits. This paper examines the impact of married men and...

The standard theoretical literature has shown that environmental sustainability and positive economic growth are not incompatible as long as environmental policies are optimal. However, in showing this result earlier studies have relied on strong assumptions that may appear to charge the dice in...

This paper examines how certain new structural factors have contributed to the latest great financial crisis and world recession of 2008-09. We focus on three of these structural factors: (i) the incorporation of highly populated countries into the growth process; (ii) The increasing scarcity of...

Three new structural factors underlie the latest great world crisis: (1) the incorporation of highly populated countries into the growth process; (2) The increasing scarcity of the environment and certain natural resources; (3) the dramatic concentration of wealth and income in the advanced...

This paper examines environmentally sustainable growth with reference to climate change assuming two final outputs and two factors of production, accounting for both pollution flow and stock effects. If the elasticity of marginal utility of consumption is greater than one, an optimal pollution...