Growth, the Environment and the Distribution of Incomes : Essays by a Sceptical Optimist

This major volume features a key selection of Wilfred Beckerman's work on the determinants of economic growth in the post-war world, income distribution and environmental policy. Economic growth is the focus of the first part of this volume which includes papers on the causes of differentiated rates of growth in the post-war years, its relationship to welfare, and the desirability of economic growth. The relationship between growth and the state of the environment is the subject of the second part of the volume which includes discussion of the economics of climate change, obligations to future generations and the justification of discounting. In this part of the book, Wilfred Beckerman also questions the value of sustainable development. The third part of the book, on inequality and poverty, focuses on the distribution of incomes, the conceptual problems of poverty measurement and the impact of social security payments in Britain. This volume also features an extensive introduction in which the author looks back on his career both as an academic and as a civil servant. Iconoclastic and thought-provoking, Growth, the Environment and the Distribution of Incomes will be welcomed as a wide-ranging and unconventional discussion of economic approaches to the environment, wealth distribution and growth.