By Terry Anderson, Hoover Institution Press, May 2004

Contrary to popular belief, economic growth is not the antithesis of  nvironmental quality; rather, the two go hand in hand if the incentives are right. The author shows how, by developing and protecting the institutions of freedom rather than regulating human use of natural resources through political processes, we can have our environmental cake and eat it too.

The book offers a number of often-surprising revelations that debunk many commonly held beliefs about the future of our environment. It shows, for example, how liberalization of international trade is more likely to improve environmental quality than reduce it. It also explains how the prosperity and improved human well-being that we enjoy today are not leaving future generations worse off but leaving them with more capital and larger stocks of natural resources. Throughout the book, the authors repeatedly show that economic growth is not the antithesis of environmental quality; rather, the two go hand in hand if the incentives are right.

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Book Contents (PDFs):

• Tables and Figures  
• Acknowledgments
• Contributors
• Introduction: Property Rights and Sustainable Development
• Chapter 1: The Skeptical Environmentalist
• Chapter 2: Economic Growth, Technological Change, and Human Well-Being
• Chapter 3: Income and the Race to the Top
• Chapter 4: Globalization, Free Trade, and Environmental Quality
• Chapter 5: Population Growth, Economic Freedom,and the Rule of Law
• Chapter 6: The Relation Between Net Carbon Emissionsand Income
• Index

Book Description:

To the doomsayers who maintain that natural resources are being depleted and the environment is getting worse, Terry Anderson and his fellow contributors offer a bold retort: it's getting better all the time. They present a powerful argument that, through such established institutions as property rights, the rules of law, and limited government, economic growth and environmental quality will both flourish.

You Have to Admit It's Getting Better shows how, by focusing our energies on developing and protecting the institutions of freedom, rather than on regulating human use of natural resources through political processes, we can in fact have our environmental cake and eat it, too. The book offers a number of often-surprising revelations that debunk many commonly held beliefs about the future of our environment. It shows, for example, how liberalization of international trade is more likely to improve environmental quality than reduce it. It also explains how the prosperity and improved human well-being that we enjoy today are not leaving future generations worse off, but leaving them with more capital and larger stocks of natural resources. Throughout the book, the authors repeatedly show that economic growth is not the antithesis of environmental quality: rather, the two go hand in hand if the incentives are right.

About the Authour:

Terry L. Anderson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and the executive director of PERC—the Property and Environment Research Center, in Bozeman, Montana.

Contributors: Terry L. Anderson, Madhusudan Bhattarai, B. Delworth Gardner, Indur M. Goklany, Bjorn Lomborg, Robert E. McCormick, Seth W. Norton, Maya Vijayaraghavan, Bruce Yandle

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