- What is “globalization of market failure”? Provide a new example. (150-400 words)
2. What does Polanyi mean by “double movement”?
3. What are some examples of “global governance”?
4. Explain why environmental degradation changes as per capita income rises. What are the different “effects”?
5. Does the presence of these “effects” lead to the conclusion that we can assume environmental degradation will decline naturally, without citizen action?
6. What is Boyce’s proposed connection between the original Kuznets Curve and the Environmental Kuznets Curve? Do you think this is a plausible connection?
7. Why was Thomas Malthus wrong about population? What did he fail to anticipate?
8. What are some ways to encourage sustainable birth rates without coercion? Is coercion ever justified?
9. Discuss all 5 scenarios: “ecological modernization?”, “environmental protectionism” (race to the bottom), “greening the global north”, “environmental imperialism”, and “environmental polarization”?
Which scenario do you find most plausible, and why? (500-1000 words) Discussion Due Friday 5PM *Remember to use the suggested format in the guide to discussion.
Read the Summers Memo and watch the film “Plastic China”. Both are linked in the syllabus.
1. Is the economic logic of moving toxic waste to poor countries “impeccable”, as Summers claims? Why or why not?
2. Would the recycling workers be better off if we banned their jobs? (This question requires no summary).