W hat kind of sick society considers destroying the earth good for the economy? Can you wrap your mind around how twisted our economic leadership is? Economics is supposed to be about generating wealth for the species, but as a species our most valuable assets are clean water, intact ecosystems, and safe coasts to live on. Destroying these assets can never be good for the economy.
Corrupt government economists assert that a healthy environment has no economic value. But go ask a randomly selected economics professor. She will report that the economics profession strongly advocates that government must “internalize the externalities” to promote national wealth. Internalizing the externalities means that corporations or people who damage the environment (or the public good in general) must be held accountable for that damage. If they aren’t made accountable, the economy suffers. Why is there such a difference between corrupt government economists and real economists?
A healthy environment is a tremendous source of wealth. Improvements to the environment should be measured as economic output in the GDP. Environmental destruction should be subtracted from the GDP, so that we can’t fool ourselves with misleading statistics. Environmental destruction is killing the goose that lays our golden eggs. If we want to be prosperous we have to end this shortsighted “corporate” mentality—this mentality that would shoot itself in the face to generate profit before quarter-end. Preserving our earth, wildlife, water, and air is very good for the economy.
