Midterm Flashcards
Explain Circular Flow
- neoclassical economics
- model depicting how money flows through the economy. –consisting only of households and firms.
- Money flows to workers in the form of wages and money flows back to firms in exchange for products.
Define/explain neoclassical Economics
- called conventional economics
- supply and demand
- tries to be positive (describes reality)
- not normative (doesnt say what should be done)
Define Welfare Economics
- normative (describes reality)
- an extension of neoclassical economics
- concerned with well-being and distribution (equity)
Define environmental economics
Neoclassical economics that accounts for emissions or wastes during production
Define resource Economics
Neoclassical economics
-accounts for the depletion and optimal use of renewable resources
Define Microeconomics
individual and business decisions
Define Macroeconomics
Country and government decisions
What is behavioural economics
letting the data describe human behaviour
-not theory
Explain Production
- process of inputs transformed into goods/investment
- as durable, human, intellectual or social capital
Explain consumption
using good/services to satisfy needs and wants
Explain consumption
using good/services to satisfy needs and wants
What are the characteristics of ecological economics
- strong sustainability
- Limits to growth
- Human Behavior
- Equity
- Interdisciplinarity
Explain strong sustainability
Human capital cannot substitute fro natural capital (normative)
Explain limits to growth
the law of thermodynamics limit the growth we can have “development” is a better idea than “growth”
Explain human behaviour as a characteristic of ecological economics
We are not just “rational actors” or selfish optimizers, we can derive happiness from a variety of sources
Explain equity as a characteristic of ecological economics
consider the distribution of impacts in present (intergenerational) and future generations (intergenerational)
Explain interdisciplinary as a characteristic of ecological economics
complex problems require insights from multiple disciplines (or transdisciplinary)
What is the growth paradigm
-One direction is: higher GDP =Higher welfare per person
What is Human Based Capital
people, machines, factories
Explain natural capital
the ways nature powers production
What is an example of a flow pollutant
Noise
-High absorptive capacity
Give an example and define of a CAC
Criteria air pollutants
-CO, NOx, O3, SOx, PM10, PM2.5, Pb, VOCs,
Give examples of GHGs
CO2, CH4, O3, N2O, Halocarbons (CFCs)
Give examples of ozone depleting pollutants
CFCs
Give examples of Water pollutants
SO2, NH4, N/P, heavy metals, pesticides
Give examples of POPS
DDT, PCBs
Describe using oil from a pipeline using terms such as “Cumulative/stock”, “episodic”, “local”, “non-point source”, and “global” you can choose 2
Global and cumulative/stock
Describe a marine oil spill from a tanker using terms such as “Cumulative/stock”, “episodic”, “local”, “non-point source”, and “global” you can choose 2
local and episodic (Also stock pollutant)
What is GNP
Gross NAtional Product
- value of output
- produced by domestically owned factories
- This is regardless of where production occurs
True or false: GNP only cares about where the factories are owned and not where production occurs
true
What is GDP
Gross Domestic product
- value of output
- produced by factories in the domestic economy
- equal to the sum of all the factor incomes arising in the domestic economy
What is the equation for GDP
GDP = private consumption + gross investment + government spending + (exports – imports)
What is the equation for GDP
GDP = private consumption + gross investment + government spending + (exports – imports)
What are some arguments people may say in favour of growing GDP
- Reduces Poverty
- Increases literacy
- reduces unemployment
- slows population growth (reduces fertility rates)
- Reduces environmental degradation
Whats is an EKC
An Environmental Kuznets Curve
-Looks like a hill where per cap income (X) increases environmental degradation (y) then hits a turning point and starts to decrease env deg
Explanations for EKC
- emissions increase as a country industrializes
- then they can afford more efficient technologies
- citizens develop “pro-env” values
- citizens vote for pro-env govs
- gov puts in place in laws institutions that are pro-env
True or false: EKC may depend on scale of pollution
true
What does GDP not account for
- resource depletion
- env deg
- equity/distribution
- social probs (crime)
- non-market services (clean air)
What types of capital are there
- physical
- intellectual
- human
- natural
Describe weak sustainability
- natural and human capital are perfect subs
- technology will fix our problems
- deal with env issues as needed
What is strong sustainability
-Both natural and human capital compliment are needed and each other