The Perverse Economy The Impact of Markets on People and the Environ
The purpose of this book is to call for a wholesale rethinking of the way that markets treat both the labour and natural resources on which we all depend. It reveals how economic analysis justifies self-defeating policies that encourage wanton use of the
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THE PERVERSE ECONOMY T HE I MPACT OF M ARKETS ON P EOPLE AND THE E NVIRONMENT Michael Perelman
THE PERVERSE ECONOMY
© Michael Perelman, 2003. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2003 978-1-4039-6271-3 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published 2003 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™ 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS. Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-4039-7087-9 ISBN 978-1-4039-8026-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781403980267 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Perelman, Michael. The perverse economy : the impact of markets on people and the environment / Michael Perelman. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. 1. Economics. 2. Economics—Sociological aspects. 3. Economic development—Environmental aspects. 4. Income distribution. 5. Labor productivity. 6. Labor economics. 7. Smith, Adam 1723–1790—Views on labor economics. 8. Scarcity. 9. Value. I. Title. HB71.P467 2003 330—dc21
2003046735
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: November, 2003 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents Introduction
1
One Adam Smith and the Farm Worker Paradox
7
Two Resources
21
Three Value
79
Four Patience
119
Five Environmental Efficiency
133
Six Back to the Farm Worker Paradox
145
Seven A New Direction
175
References
185
Index
207
Introduction
W
alking along a city street, I look up at a gleaming office building filled with busy people. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of them are manning computers, telephones, fax machines, or copiers or maybe just shuffling paper—work that is coming to occupy the majority of employees in advanced market economies. Many seem to be working at a frantic pace. For many of these people, prosperity must seem almost like a birthright. Others, working long hours trying to get ahead, also expect at the very least a middle-class lifestyle. Great wealth flows to some of the people who occupy these offices, and even more to those who employ them from afar. But what exactly do they do? How do their activities contribute to society? In what seems to be a world apart, in the countryside, a number of immigrant laborers are working hard amidst a toxic soup of agricultural chemicals. Yet, without these people or others like them, the economy would grind to a halt. What would people eat without such workers sacrificing their own health in the fields? Despite their undeniable contribution,
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