Local Politics of Global Sustainability. Review: Allocation Matrix Rival Non-rival...
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Transcript of Local Politics of Global Sustainability. Review: Allocation Matrix Rival Non-rival...
Review: Allocation MatrixReview: Allocation Matrix
Rival
Non-rival
Excludable Non-Excludable
Market Good: Ecosystem structure,Waste absorption capacity (e.g. SO2)
Tragedy of the non-commons: patented information
Pure Public Good:Street lights, national defense, most ecosystem services, unpatented information
Open Access Regime:Unowned ecosystem structure, waste absorption capacity (e.g. CO2)
Non-rival, congestible
Club or Toll Good
Private property and ecosystem Private property and ecosystem structurestructure
• Inefficient: Owner ignores critical ecosystem services
• Unjust: Ecosystem services are public goods, destroyed for private gain
• Unsustainable: Profit maximization may still lead to extinction
Example: Brazil’s Atlantic RainforestExample: Brazil’s Atlantic Rainforest
•Ecosystem services of rainforest valued at Ecosystem services of rainforest valued at $2006/ha/year$2006/ha/year•World’s highest biodiversity humid forest World’s highest biodiversity humid forest converted to pasture yielding $20/ha/yearconverted to pasture yielding $20/ha/year•Causes droughts, floods, erosion, biodiversity Causes droughts, floods, erosion, biodiversity loss, microclimate change, etc. loss, microclimate change, etc. •Greedy self interest creates invisible footGreedy self interest creates invisible foot
Private property and information Private property and information
• Inefficient: – Creates artificial scarcity– Patent = monopoly– Research ignores public goods
• Unjust– Knowledge is cumulative– Raises costs for research that promotes the public
good or serves the poor– Example: Golden rice, AIDS medicine
Patents and distribution (cont.)Patents and distribution (cont.)
• Samuel Slater, “Father of American Industry”
• Developed countries own 97% of all patents
The “Tragedy of the Non-Commons”The “Tragedy of the Non-Commons”
• Occurs when private ownership is ecologically unsustainable, socially unjust, and/or economically inefficient
• Any privately owned resource that provides non-rival benefits
• Sustainability is a non-rival benefit of healthy ecosystems
It’s the system, stupidIt’s the system, stupid
• How do we create a system that allocates non-rival and/or non-excludable resources?– Must be fair– Must be sustainable– Be nice if it was efficient, too (policy lecture)
Capitalism vs. socialismCapitalism vs. socialism• Ownership by the individual or ownership by
society?• What is appropriate depends on the nature of
the resources and desirable ends• We need a hybrid system:
– Market allocation works for rival/excludable goods and services that only affect individual well-being
– We need another allocative mechanism for non-rival and/or non-excludable goods/bads that affect public well-being
Can Science Tell us How to Can Science Tell us How to Allocate?Allocate?
• How much natural capital needs to be left for future generations?
• How do we deal with uncertainty?
• How do we deal with needs vs. wants?
• Values matter
• If the market economy can’t do it, and science can’t do it, what is left?
Can the Political Process do it?Can the Political Process do it?
• As many types of political systems as economic systems
What we haveWhat we have
• Representative democracy (?)– Defends our rights and freedoms (?)– Is it participatory?
• Feeling of participation• Participation levels• Would you opt out of participating in the market?
– Is it democracy?"We can have concentrated wealth in the hands of a few or we can have democracy, but we cannot have both."
-Justice Louis Brandeis
What we Have (cont.)What we Have (cont.)
• Economic sphere (wealth) dominates political sphere (power) and public sphere (participation)– Public sphere: “psychic and political space
and process within which people, acting as citizens, consider their common dilemmas and seek solutions”
– We are consumers first, citizens second
• Unregulated capitalism destroys the means of production
What we needWhat we need
• Participatory, democratic decision making processes – “strong democracy”– E.g. town meetings
What this requiresWhat this requires• Equal political rights
– One person one vote vs. one dollar one vote– Can’t let economic sphere influence political sphere– Nature abhors a vacuum
• Educated public– What do we learn and where do we learn it?– Who owns the airwaves?– We must educate each other in public dialogue
• Engaged public• Empowered public
Strong democracy and the political Strong democracy and the political conditioncondition
• Action– Participatory democracy is not a spectator
sport. We need to opt in.
• Publicness– Must continually answer question “when do
private acts become public?”
• Necessity– “events have lives of their own. To refuse to
act is also to act”
(cont.)(cont.)• Choice
– Citizens set the agenda.
• Reasonableness– We must both talk and listen. Dialogue not debate
• Conflict– We must “transform conflict into cooperation through
citizen participation, public deliberation, and civic education.”
• Absence of an independent ground– E.g. divine will, rights, freedoms
PDMP and built capitalPDMP and built capital
• How do we supply public goods such as roads, bridges, streetlights, sewage systems?
• What would happen if we applied PDMP to urban sprawl?
• How does this relate to Diane Gayre’s and Melinda Moulton’s lectures?
• What is the impact of unregulated capitalism? (e.g. electricity)
PDMP and natural capitalPDMP and natural capital• What belongs to the public (THE
COMMONWEALTH) and what belongs to individuals?
• How do we deal with parks, air quality (SO2), water quality, etc.?
• The public determines scale, scale determines price– We decide as a society how to allocate natural capital
between ecosystem services and economic production.
– Market can decide how to allocate among different sectors of economy.
PDMP and social capitalPDMP and social capital• Continual process of education into
citizenship• “community is fostered by participation,
and participation by community”– Working with people to solve common
problems transforms them into a community– E.g. US senate (in a good year)
• Builds institutions, networks and trust• What is the impact of unregulated
capitalism on social capital?