{"product_id":"jevons-paradoxes-william-stanley-jevons-and-the-roots-of-biophysical-and-neoclassical-economics-paperback","title":"Jevons' Paradoxes: William Stanley Jevons and the Roots of Biophysical and Neoclassical Economics - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eKent Klitgaard\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI​n 1865, economist William Stanley Jevons published \u003ci\u003eThe Coal Question\u003c\/i\u003e, describing the crucial role that coal played in British economic development. Here, he enunciated what has come to be known as the Jevons paradox, which stated that improvements in resource efficiency leads to greater resource use as the expansion of scale occasioned by lower operating costs overwhelms the savings due to greater efficiency. The implications for any sustainability scenario are enormous and a major theme of this book. While \u003ci\u003eThe Coal Question\u003c\/i\u003e provided the theory that was a precursor to peak oil and resource limits to growth, it was followed six years later by the \u003ci\u003eTheory of Political Economy\u003c\/i\u003e, the first English-language work of neoclassical economics, which denies the importance of energy as a special commodity. \u003cbr\u003eIn spite of this apparent contradiction, in this book biophysical economist Kent Klitgaard makes clear that there is no epistemological break between \u003ci\u003eThe Coal Question\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eTheory of Political Economy\u003c\/i\u003e. Indeed, the Jevons paradox makes little sense in the absence of a behavioral theory grounded in marginal utility, which recognizes the satisfaction that each of us gains as consumers of one more unit of a good or service. Jevons could not solve this paradox in light of his belief that coal mines were becoming exhausted and more expensive to operate, and that there was no substitute for coal. However, he was uninterested in questions of sustainability; rather, he wanted to maintain British industrial and imperial dominance. Did the eventual substitution of oil for coal simply allow us to run through other resources at an accelerated rate? Indeed, the petroleum economy of the 20th and early 21st centuries has presented vastly expanded opportunities for the operation of the Jevons Paradox. This book shows the connections among the different paradoxes in Jevons' work, and exposes the potentially fatal flaws that confound technological solutions to the sustainability challenge.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eKent Klitgaard is a Professor \u003ci\u003eEmeritus\u003c\/i\u003e of Economics and Sustainability at Wells College, having just retired from a thirty-year teaching career.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKent is the co-author, in collaboration with Charlie Hall, of \u003ci\u003eEnergy and the Wealth of Nations, \u003c\/i\u003e co-founder of the International Society of Biophysical Economics, and a board member of the Biophysical Economics Institute. He is the proud father of two adult children who have eschewed the corporate road to wealth in order to do good for the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 120\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.3 x 9.21 x 6.14 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 18, 2022\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51750611845408,"sku":"9783030935887","price":89.08,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/2af5cdf992f1a695ed3d7abe22901a70.webp?v=1779954653","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/jevons-paradoxes-william-stanley-jevons-and-the-roots-of-biophysical-and-neoclassical-economics-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}