Show Student Page 20 Life Monthly Review 1 9 ook Review The Economics of Environmental Policy John Wiley and Sons Inc (New York: 1973) 184 pages Authors: Freeman A Myrick III Robert H Haveman and Allen V Kneese by Norman Solomon "The most formidable barrier to controlling pollution is probably not technology population or public attitudes but the politics of the inarpower' Thus government becomes less responsive to and more ticulate mass (loyal Republicans read: "silent majority") responsive to the more influential elements of the constituency Decision-makinresponsibility in the vital and controversial area of environmental control is shifted from elected legislators to the inaccessable and unaccountable reaches of the federal bureaucracy "Thus also the most productive steps toward effective environmental management might not be taken until the situation reaches such critical magnitudes that "Air Land Water" becomes the same revolutionary elixir that "Peace Land Bread" was in another time and place What is needed however is less waving of and a more conscious the realization among the populace of the benefits and the costs of effective management of environmental resources" It is with this goal in mind that the authors present an exposition "presupposing no previous background in economics or the natural g theta-spangle- d Green-and-Whit- e sciences" (access to an unabridged dictionary however is desirable unless one prefers to blurb over some of the terminology like so many names in a Russian novel) The only stated prerequisite is the willingness to confront and to master certain rudimentary concepts explained in the text - eg marginal cost biochemical oxygen demand etc Although ingeniously took in ail that was offered in the way of natural sciences as an erstwhile economist encountered some difficulty assimilating their theoretical construct of the free market economy in which the assumptions of the free market (pure competition) analytical model are represented as 'properties The careful reader will want to know where in a world of caveat emptor exists there a market in which full information of prices values costs and the future are fully known to all Galbraith moreover tells us that the profit motive has lost its potency in an era when capital ownership has been largely divested of management responsibility Part of fhe answer may lie in positing that the Galbraithian school of casual empiricism is not the voice of God neither shall it live forever The heart of fhe response to such criticism however is that while the assumptions (properties?) of the theoretical construct may be somewhat simplistic the model as a whole provides a reasonable basis for analysis and prediction Some confusion nonetheless arises later in the text when the authors refer alternatively to 'properties' and 'assumptions' without clearly indicating that they are two labels for the same thing Diletantes of the multidisciplinary approach to environmental issues may be led to wonder about the validity of these economists' forays into the natural sciences The book has three redeeming qualities however which commend it to the lay reader First of all it does not take up one factor as the root of al environmental evil - greed motherhood or otherwise but focuses its attention on the organizational and institutional factors which contribute to the pollution problem Secondly it begins to cope with the reality that everything we eat wear or otherwise consume and most of what we live in contributes in some way to residual waste accumulation or some other form of environmental damage Finally it confronts the reader with the proposition that there are costs as well as benefits to any program or policy dealing with environmental issues thereby lending rigor to the vigor of the environmentalist movement If the book is available in the library it has not yet been new books catalogued rarely are But it may be found in the textbook area of the bookstore under Political Science 589 I I -- I Norm Solomon is a Graduate Research Fellow in Economics from Portland Oregon and Bibliophile Chairman of ASUSU Environmental Action -- Where in the Wrld but— fD 1) WHERE YOU CAN 125 FIND A WORLD OF SAVINGS! EAST 4th WORTH WED THRU SAT SALE "Sirr! S & I CONTACT B Cold Capsule uv ieSSJSfi 82 1 BET' B O’l B 19 Bllllir rm B B I i POSTERS - 23” 36” x IN COLOR i HiMd Vi BBBia1 SWISS DIGITAL BBBBBBI REMINGTON OR FASHION WATCH HAND-HEL- 600-Wat- ts SUPER DRYER D $107 BBBBBM SIMONIZ SURE WORLD OF CARS GIFT SET fll i) Volume of World's Beautiful Cars 5 Pci of Wax $1 Cleaners nt Extra Dry 07 ij 6 oi BaaaaaaBBBBav iypr |