Environmental economics and ecological economics: antagonistic approaches?

Abstract

Environment al economics, based on neoclassical methodology, cannot sufficiently describe and explain economic‐ecological interactions because of its theoretical framework. Methodological individualism, materially ignorant circulation‐theory, the tendency towards quantification and monetization, and an “unhistoric” idea of time, prevent economists from realizing irreversible and dynamic developments of complex systems, like ecosystems. Ecological methodology with its systemic and evolutionary approach, combined with a holistic perception of spaces, leads to a more realistic view of economic‐ecological interactions and provides guidelines for environmental policy, quite different to those proposed by conventional environmental economics. In short, protection of the environment by internalization into ecological and not into the economic system.