oes economic growth have to be at
the expense of nature and future
generations? Lucid and compellingly
argued, Dieter Helm’s latest volume,
Natural Capital, says no.
Ensuring that the present generation’s
growth will still permit future generations
to meet their needs and grow requires
a sufficient stock of natural capital assets—
the renewable and nonrenewable natural
resources and ecosystems that provide humans
with a wide range of goods and services.
A highly respected economist, Helm
proposes a consistent framework and economically
efficient approach to protect and
enhance these assets so as to achieve sustainable
growth.
The book’s central argument is that only
by putting the environment at the heart of
the economy can there be any hope of preventing
the destruction that will otherwise
happen. Helm argues that because natural
resources are free, their real worth is not
fully valued by producers and consumers,
nor are the benefits derived from them reflected
in standard economic measures such
as gross domestic product. Thus, they tend
to be overused and receive little investment
for their management and conservation.
Building on ideas from economics, ecosystems
science, and public policy, Helm