Search results for ""author paul ekins""

Every day, all over the world, billions of people play their part in humanity's global growth economy. Money is the god, material wealth the principal virtue, and market economics the ruler of our times. But this economics of consumption is full of hidden costs. It is drawing us ever deeper into social, ecological, and economic crisis. We are trading the health of the Earth and our communities for freeways and the free market. This pioneering work in "green" economics shows us a way out of this destructive obsession with economic growth. It explores a new concept of wealth and wealth creation; it describes a new economics synthesis between the market, state, families, and communities; it sets out what governments and people can do to build a sustainable society - to create prosperity and a fairer world in a healthy environment. Paul Ekins is one of the foremost thinkers in a new field, working to bring economics into line with the realities of our time and show people how economics affects all our lives. Mayer Hillman and Robert Hutchison contribute their specialist knowledge of social policy issues.

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Government regulation is necessary to the economic life of all developed countries. However the costs of regulation, in particular the cost estimates employed in the policy-making process, are often hotly debated. Drawing on recent case studies from Europe, this innovative and thoroughly accessible book examines the accuracy of regulatory cost estimates and explores in detail how these costs are calculated, the apparent relationship between ex post and ex ante calculations and why this might be.This is an objective contribution to a debate often characterised by polemic and unfounded claims. With a firm empirical basis, a wide range of case studies are presented to test theories of cost estimation which cover a diverse range of regulation in the areas of air quality and energy, industrial processes and products and agriculture and food.It will be of great interest to academics and researchers of the economics of environmental regulation and public policy. Practical suggestions for improving the accuracy of regulatory cost estimates will be of interest to a variety of economists grappling with regulatory and other impact assessments. The rationale for regulation, outlined in the book, provides a knowledge of the ideas that underpin regulation that will help non-economists (for example from regulated industries and NGOs) to engage in the wider debate about environmental regulation.

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