Putting Monetary Values on the Environment and Living Things

Abstract

The first three chapters outlined the basic conceptual framework of how economists approach environmental problems. Economists do not begin with the assumption that all pollution and environmental degradation should be eliminated; they believe that society must strike a balance between industrial development and environmental quality. Much of the methodology that economists employ to help society weigh the trade-offs between environmental goals and the production of goods and services relies on putting monetary values on the environment and living things.