Editing Environmental economics (section)

== History ==

=== 18th and 19th Century ===
Although the term "environmental economics" became popular beginning in the 1960's, the entwinement of the two fields of environmentalism and economics started much earlier. Starting with economist [[Marquis de Condorcet]] in the 18th century, who had an interest in the link between economic activity and environmental issues.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Sandmo |first=Agnar |title=The Early History of Environmental Economics |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1093/reep/reu018 |journal=Chicago Journals |volume=9 |issue=1}}</ref> This was seen in his usage of [[Externality|externalities]] while analyzing environmental issues.<ref name=":1" />

During the [[Classical economics|classical period of economics]], [[Adam Smith]] realized while the market is able to allocate private goods efficiently for most goods, it fails to do so in some environmental circumstances.<ref name=":1" /> It is within these scenarios where the market fails, that the government needs to take action.<ref name=":1" /> This is seen in his quote "Erecting and maintaining certain public works and certain public institutions which it can never be for the interest of any individual, or small number of individuals to erect and maintain; because the profit would never repay the expense to any individual or small number of individuals, though it may frequently do much more than repay it to a great society."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Adam |date=1776 |title=An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations |journal=Ocford University Press}}</ref> [[Thomas Robert Malthus]] also was another classical economist who's work led to the beginnings of environmental economists.<ref name=":1" /> Malthus' theory of population argued that agricultural productivity faces diminishing returns, which ultimately limits the exponential growth of human populations.<ref name=":1" /> This thought process later led economists to think about the relationship between resource scarcity and economic development.<ref name=":1" /> [[David Ricardo]]'s writings connected the natural environment and the standard of living which further helped to develop environmental economics later on.<ref name=":1" /> He stressed that the value of land varies based on how fertile it is.<ref name=":1" /> The last classical economist to add to environmental economics was [[John Stuart Mill]].<ref name=":1" /> In his [[Principles of Political Economy]], he wrote that the management of the environment cannot be done by the market and individuals, and is instead a governmental obligation, "[I]s there not the earth itself, its forests and waters, and all other natural riches, above and below the surface? These are the inheritance of the human race, and there must be regulations for the common enjoyment of it. What rights, and under what conditions, a person shall be allowed to exercise over any portion of this common inheritance cannot be left undecided. No function of government is less optional than the regulation of these things, or more completely involved in the idea of civilized society."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mill |first=John Stuart |date=1848 |title=Principles of political economy: Collected works of John Stuart Mill |journal=University of Toronto Press |volume=2-3}}</ref>

=== 20th Century ===
Environmental economics became increasingly more popular in the 19th century.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Pearce |first=David |date=2002 |title=An Intellectual History of Environmental Economics |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.energy.27.122001.083429 |journal=Annual Review |volume=27 |pages=57-81}}</ref> This is when the [[Resources for the Future]] (RFF) was established in Washington, D.C. This independent research organization applied economics to environmental issues.<ref name=":2" /> During this time [[H. Scott Gordon]] released his paper "Economic Theory of a Common Property Resource: The Fishery" which claimed that open access fisheries can be exploited leading to economic rents to be dissipated.<ref name=":2" /> Another important paper adding to environmental economics at this time was "Spaceship Earth" by [[Kenneth E. Boulding]].<ref name=":2" /> This paper describes the physical limits of earths resources and how technology cannot truly help humans push those limits.<ref name=":2" /> Finally, [[Ronald Coase]] created an economic solution to environmental issues, which solidified environmental economics as a sub field of economics.<ref name=":2" /> He believed that there were 2 solutions 1) to tax the creator of the polluter and to create regulation that put the burden of action on the polluter or 2) the sufferer must pay the polluter to not pollute.<ref name=":2" />