Skip Navigation

Cambridge Journal of Economics 2005 29(6):1091-1109; doi:10.1093/cje/bei085
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (2)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Greenhalgh, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved.

Article

Why does market capitalism fail to deliver a sustainable environment and greater equality of incomes?

Christine Greenhalgh*

* St Peter's College, Oxford

Address for correspondence: St Peter's College, Oxford; email: Christine.greenhalgh{at}economics.ac.uk

Abstract

I argue that free-market capitalist economies are biased against inventing/using green technology and against supplying the basic needs of the poor. With no mechanism for setting globally optimal prices for non-renewables, entrepreneurs choose labour-saving resource-intensive production methods. Further pressure on labour costs comes from finite individual lifetimes combined with rising access to goods. R&D creates technologies/products geared to saving worker and consumer time, instead of conserving non-renewable resources. Demand for positional luxury goods by the rich crowds out the basic needs of the poor. Technology caters for the demands of the rich, accentuating inequality, as prices fall/quality rises with innovation. I conclude with policies to redress imbalances.

Key Words: Capitalism • Environment • Poverty • Technology

JEL classifications: H20, J20, O30

Manuscript received December 8, 2003; final version received August 5, 2005.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 OXF REV ECON POLICYHome page
C. Greenhalgh and M. Rogers
The value of intellectual property rights to firms and society
Oxf. Rev. Econ. Policy, December 1, 2007; 23(4): 541 - 567.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.