Deck 10: Political Economy: Making Markets Fair and Sustainable

Question 1

An example of Jevons paradox would be:

A) Purchasing an "easy clean" cooktop that in turn requires the purchase of a special cleaner.
B) Buying a highly fuel efficient car to offset higher fuel prices and end up driving so much more that you actually consume more fuel overall than you would have if you kept driving your old car.
C) Increasing the rate at which we cut down rainforests and therefore increasing the number of species that go extinct.
D) All of the above.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Michael Carolan, author of Society and the Environment, tells the story of when he switched over to compact florescent light bulbs in his house (which are considerably more efficient than old fashioned incandescent bulbs). Yet after doing this he began leaving his lights on more often. This is an example of:

A) The backboard effect.
B) The rebound effect.
C) The reverse effect.
D) The double dip effect.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The amount of energy, for example, required to produce each unit of the world's economic output is known as:

A) Carbonization.
B) Energy intensity.
C) Energy shifting.
D) Rebound effect.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

What refers to the ability of an economy to grow without corresponding increases in environmental pressure?

A) Rebounding.
B) Supra-materializing.
C) Decoupling.
D) Normalizing.

Question 5

According to this framework, modern capitalistic societies are driven by a never-ending commitment to growth, despite (and equally because of) its social and ecological costs.

A) Treadmill of production.
B) Jevons paradox.
C) Round effect.
D) Neo-malthusianism.

Question 6

A "Pigovian tax" refers to:

A) A tax levied on companies that pollute or create excess social costs (called negative externalities).
B) A tax levied on companies who do not sufficiently pollute.
C) A tax on livestock producers who engage in practices of overproduction.
D) All of the above.

Question 7

Which of the following is a practice typical of fair trade?

A) Agreed-upon minimum prices that are often higher than those set by the market.
B) An additional social premium is paid on top of the fair trade price.
C) Farmers and workers are democratically organized.
D) All of the above are common in fair trade schemes.

Question 8

Who is associated with the Treadmill of Production theory?

A) Karl Marx.
B) Allan Schnaiberg.
C) William Jevons.
D) All of the above.

Question 9

Which term best defines the constant unending quest for profit and expansion of production which will result in further demands on nature and more waste and pollution?

A) Treadmill of production.
B) Life cycle analysis.
C) Efficiency shifting.
D) All of the above.

Question 10

Marx witnessed this first hand and wrote (1863): "they can do nothing better with the excrement produced by 4.5 million people than pollute the Thames at monstrous expense." This pollution event is often referred to as:

A) London's manure patch.
B) The great Atlantic garbage patch.
C) Summer of the Big Stink.
D) All of the above.

Question 11

The metabolic rift thesis argues that free trade represents the only road to true sustainability.

Question 12

The Environmental Kuznets Curve comes out of the writings of Karl Marx.

Question 13

The rebound effect and Jevons paradox tell us that we can innovate ourselves to sustainability without having to change human behavior.

Question 14

In 1858 the Thames of London was so foul from sewage that lawmakers were forced to flee the Capital for the countryside.

Question 15

William Jevons coined the term "rifts" and defined them as environmental disruptions in the current system of production.

Question 16

The pollution haven hypothesis penalizes industries for polluting countries through stiff regulatory fines.

Question 17

Clean air can be considered a public good.

Question 18

Pigovian Taxes are taxes levied on companies that pollute and create excess social costs (negative externalities).

Question 19

The Coase Theorem argues that public land management by Federal and State government leads to the best and most efficient environmental outcomes.

Question 20

Apolitical Ecologies are the tendency to blame individuals for current environmental problems.

Question 21

Define Jevons paradox.

Question 22

Define decoupling.

Question 23

Define the treadmill of production.

Question 24

Describe the "Summer of the Big Stink"

Question 25

Explain the pollution haven hypothesis.

Question 26

Explain the forest transition theory.

Question 27

Explain Pigovian taxes.

Question 28

Explain fair trade.

Question 29

Define the Coase theorem.

Question 30

Define the Porter hypothesis.

Question 31

Explain the difference between relative and absolute efficiency gains. What are the implications of each for building more sustainable economies?

Question 32

Which Fast Fact from Chapter 10 would you use to talk to and educate others about our current market economy and making it more fair and sustainable? Why and what would you say?

Question 33

According to Carolan, market economies are "fairly simple beasts." What does he mean by that? Reference the chapter in your explanation.

Question 34

What is meant by "natural capital"? What can happen to economies and societies when natural capital stocks depreciate or are depleted?

Question 35

Chapter 10 discusses the "internal contradictions of capital." What are the implications of these contradictions for not only people, but also the environment and natural resources?

Question 36

What is meant by a "metabolic rift"? Reference Chapter 10 in your explanation.

Question 37

What is meant by the first, second and third contradictions of capital? Reference Chapter 10 in your explanation.

Question 38

Discuss what Carolan means by "total cost accounting." Use the term "public good" in your explanation.

Question 39

What is the difference between fair versus free trade? What are some of the principals behind fair trade that are described in Chapter 10?

Question 40

What does Carolan mean by "extra-market" intervention in building more sustainable economies? What is the Porter hypothesis? Discuss with reference to the chapter.

Question 41

Have you ever invested in a more energy-efficient technology only to change your behavior and thus offset some (if not all) of those efficiency gains (as Carolan did, as mentioned earlier, when he switched all the incandescent bulbs in his house for CFLs)?

Question 42

In order for capitalism to be more sustainable over the long term, what is going to need to happen?

Question 43

What are your thoughts on the position taken about how free markets actually presuppose a degree of restraint and government intervention in order to be free?