Frontiers in the Environment

Talk by Stephen Polasky, IonE Resident Fellow; Regents Professor of Applied Economics, College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences; and Project Lead, Natural Capital Project

Unregulated “brown” market economies are very good at providing commodities like corn and computers but very bad at providing clean air and water and protecting ecosystems and biodiversity. The fundamental problem with the current economy is that there are powerful incentives to produce commodities but no similar motivation to produce green goods. Fixing this asymmetry requires rethinking the role of markets, business, consumers, government and civic society. Join us for a look at various approaches — from government regulation to corporate environmentalism to consumer action — that can take us closer to the goal of a green economy