Summary and Guide
Introduction: Means and Ends
I Valuing and Evaluating
Prologue
1: The Notion of Well-Being
*1: Ordering Social States
2: Why Measure Well-Being?
3: Constituents and Determinants of Well-Being
II Measuring Current Well-Being
Prologue
4: Theory
5: Current Quality of Life in Poor Countries
III Measuring Well-Being over Time
Prologue
6: Intergenerational Well-Being
*6: Intergenerational Conflicts
7: Economic Institutions and the Natural Environment
8: Valuing Goods
9: Wealth and Well-Being
IV Evaluating Policies in Imperfect Economies
Prologue
10: Policy Reforms
11: Discounting Future Consumption: How and Why
12: Institutional Responses to Policy Change
V Valuing Potential Lives
Prologue
13: Some Views
14: Classical Utilitarianism and the Genesis Problem
*14: Numbers and Well-Being under Classical Utilitarianism
15: Actual versus Potential Lives
*15: Generation-Relative Utilitarianism
Appendix
Partha Dasgupta is the Frank Ramsey Professor of Economics at the
University of Cambridge, and Fellow of St. John's College,
Cambridge. A Past President of the Royal Economic Society and of
the European Economic Association, Professor Dasgupta is a Fellow
of the British Academy, Member of the Pontifical Academy of Social
Sciences, Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences,
and Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences. His
publications
include An Inquiry into Well-Being and Destitution (Clarendon
Press, Oxford, 1993).
`highly recommended for policy makers and students of environment
and development notably those with an interest in collective
action. International donors and multilateral banks with a large
portfolio of projects in the water and forestry sectors could also
benefit immensely from some of the insights this book provides'
Development and Change
`Review from previous edition 'Building on his classic magnum opus
.... Partha Dasgupta has joined this rethink in an intellectually
rich, thought-provoking and occasionally metaphysical work. His new
book probes many issues beyond those that might be anticipated from
the title and confirms his position as one of the most exciting
economic thinkers today ... we can ask why so many feel we need
reforms in ethical behaviour to ensure sustainability. Dasgupta
touches on some of the framework needed to answer this question.
More is needed. If anyone is going to supply it is is likely to be
Dasgupta.'
'
Times Higher Education Supplement
`'Professor Dasgupta's latest book is a remarkably comprehensive
account of his subject. It seeks out and develops the fundamentals
so thoroughly that its methods will have application in many
branches of economic evaluation and policy assessment even beyond
the environmental aspects that are its primary focus. He moves with
ease from deep studies of the meaning of concepts like
''sustainability'' to detailed empirical accounts of environmental
damage. It
is a book that will be used and consulted for a long time to
come.'
'
Professor Kenneth J. Arrow, Stanford University
`'Partha Dasgupta is one of the deepest thinkers and most powerful
analysts in ecological economics. [In this book] he attempts to go
beyond measures of current well-being, such as the Human
Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme
because, as he puts it, "The present is the past's future". His
tightly reasoned and carefully presented effort will enrich the
thinking of students and professionals in economics, environmental
studies,
political science, political philosophy, and population
studies.''
Professor Joel E. Cohen, Rockefeller University and Columbia
University
`'The anthropologist notices that, as a tribe, economists love
argument, which means of course that they also love theory and
exact measurement. The great economists add to these two loves one
more, a passion for justice. Partha Dasgupta adds yet
another---compassion. His understandings of the meaning of poverty
and of helpless imprisonment in poverty traps provide a commonsense
platform for proposing new measurements and challenging
professional
assumptions. This is how the book transcends its own formidable
proficiency as it initiates the non-professional reader into the
idea of social cost benefit.''
Professor Mary Douglas, University College London
`'Concepts like GDP focus on easily measurable things, whilst
omitting ecosystem services and other environmental factors on
which life ultimately depends. Partha Dasgupta is a seminal figure
in his discipline, taking on the difficult, yet hugely important,
task of trying meaningfully to measure ''quality of life''. This
book will, I hope, set the tone for the new millennium, melding
conventional economic concepts, ecological and environmental
science, and
a great deal of plain commonsense. Read it.''
Lord Robert May, University of Oxford
`Dasgupta raises the most challenging moral questions of our age:
Is there a utilitarian foundation for trading off an entire
species-habitat for the gratification of the current generation?
Are decisions about procreation and the sustenance of ecological
systems based strictly on personal morality or based on a broader
political ethic? In the process of asking these big questions, he
addresses the role of citizenship, civil rights, democracy, and
"progress." He explores intergenerational well-being and conflicts.
He
asks how we do, and how we should value goods. He presents a
powerful analysis of the evaluation of policies in imperfect
economies. Reading this book is the equivalent of a crash course in
political economy and moral philosophy. I wholeheartedly recommend
it as one of the most important books of the new millennium.
'
Professor Elinor Ostrom, Indiana University
`Partha Dasgupta is a very highly regarded economic theorist, and
his book shows why. Dasgupta writes more clearly, and in a more
accessible manner... than most highly regarded economic
theorists.'
Journal of Public Policy
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