What is the difference between ecological economics and environmental economics?
Environmental economics is a subset of neoclassical economics that focuses on environmental issues. As a subset, it adheres to the basic assumptions of neoclassical economics, including the microeconomic construction of the consumer as a rational, utility-maximizing “Homo economicus” for whom “utility” is gauged by the consumption of goods and services. Environmental economics also tends to subscribe to the neoclassical theory of perpetual economic growth based upon perpetually increasing productive efficiency. In practice, however, its practitioners are largely mute on the subject of limits to growth. They focus instead (as do neoclassical economists at large) on the efficient allocation of resources at any size of an economy. Ecological economics is founded upon different assumptions, micro and macro, which lead to distinct conclusions and policy implications. These assumptions incorporate principles from the natural sciences (physical and biological) that are largely ignored in neoc
