Journal of Economic Literature

Volume 42, Number 2

(June 2004)

The following annotation will appear in the June 2004 issue of the Journal

of Economic Literature(Volume 42, no.2) and in the American Economic

Association’s electronic publication: e-JEL, JEL on CD, and EconLit.

Reviews
Thomas R. DeGregori. The Environment, Our Natural Resources, and Modern
Technology. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 2002. Pp. xxvii+224. $19.99,

paper. ISBN 0-8138-0869-3, cloth; 0-8138-0923-1, pbk.

 

                                                  JEL 2004-0793

                     Challenges widespread phobias and beliefs that

          deny or rejest the technological and scientific transformations

          that have given humans longer and healthier lives--ideas that

          play a critical role in the push for  “ alternative ”  lifestyles,

          medicine,  agriculture,  and  other  alternative  practices.

          Examines various  forms  of  green  consumerism. Draws

          attention  to  element  of  racism  and  elitism within the

          environmental  movement.  Debunks  cotemporary romantic

          mythologies  about  peoples  who  are  economically less

          developd,  including  descriptions  of  the early hunters and

          gatherers  as  the  “original affluent society”;  the myth  of

          pre-European-contact island  paradises in the Pacific; the myth

          of  the American  Indian  as the “original ecologist”; and the

          myth of  a past where there was less violence and people lived

          in  harmony  with  nature.  Examines  the  relationship of

          “primitive people”  to technology and describes the poor health

          experienced  by  some groups presumably living in ecological

          balance  with  the environment. Discusses the human endeavor

          as  a  creative  force  and  sets  out  a vigorous defense of

          technology  and  modernity.  DeGregori  is  Professor  of

          Economics  at  the University of Houston. Index