Historical Roots for Ecological Economics: Biophysical Versus Allocative Approaches
Author(s)
Christensen, Paul P.
Abstract
Economic theory has become a highly axiomatic and deductive science. While institutionalists have attempted to use results from other social sciences in their analysis, the biophysical foundations of economic activity are still missing. Both the other social sciences and also physics, chemistry, biology and ecology must inform economic analysis. The foundations for a theory that can do this are found in the works of the pre-classical Physiocrats and the classical economists. This essay considers these foundations and traces the genealogy of modern economic theory. It establishes the links between a biophysical theory of the economy and the classical economists.
