Ecological macroeconomics: a methodological review

Abstract

The paper aims to analyse and provide an overview of the emerging ecological macroeconomic approach from a methodological point of view. As with ecological economics, this emerging approach is being constituted by a methodologically plural set of studies. We identify and classify three main macroeconomic strands developed from ecological economic concerns. Firstly, we present the conventional macroeconomic IS-LM model adapted to a sustainable scale of production. Secondly, we discuss a fundamentalist post-Keynesian view on ecological economics that criticises the use of models more heavily. Finally, we describe the attempts to build ecological macroeconomic models based on the post-Keynesian approach. For each model, theories, methods, and assumptions are discussed and evaluated in light of ecological economic foundations. We conclude by reinforcing the role of methodological criticism in the consolidation of relevant ecological macroeconomics.

Revisiting the Missing Link: An Ecological Theory of Money for a Regenerative Economy

“…Building a monetary theory out of a field of dispersed, not always coherent, and not yet mature ideas is a challenge in itself [54]. By the time Lietaer et al were writing, Ecological Macroeconomics was still in its early stages of development and mainly was an 'ecological add-on' to post-Keynesian models [16,55,56]. EE value theory is an under-discussed and undervalued theme within the field [54,57,58].…”

“…By the time Lietaer et al were writing, Ecological Macroeconomics was still in its early stages of development and mainly was an 'ecological add-on' to post-Keynesian models [16,54,55]. EE value theory is an underdiscussed and undervalued theme within the field [53,56,57]. Furthermore, as Louie Larue recently argued in his critical assessment of the EMT, the analogies and comparisons between the natural world and monetary ecosystems are "unlikely to hold", and the transposition of critical concepts, such as efficiency and resilience, "still needs quite a lot of work to withstand scientific critique" [53] (p. 7).…”

“…Developments of an EMT have shyly continued after 2013, with ecological economists developing the macroeconomics dimension of EE-see for example [54,55]-and the three key concepts of the EMT highlighted in Figure 2. These developments allow us to envision a monetary theory that focuses not on the quantity of money but instead on the qualities of different monies: a monetary theory that embraces the necessary complexity Beyond Ament's [31,32] and Svartzman's work [16], developments in ecological monetary economics, have shyly progressed since 2013, with ecological economists developing the macroeconomics dimension of EE-see for example [55,56]-and the three key concepts of the EMT highlighted in Figure 2. These developments allow us to envision a monetary theory that focuses not on the quantity of money but instead on the qualities of different monies: a monetary theory that embraces the necessary complexity of an ecosystem of currencies and unpacks its potential relationships-one that re-symbolizes the language of money coherently with an ecological paradigm.…”

Why is ecological sustainability so difficult to achieve? An in‐context discussion of conceptual barriers

“…There must be a focus on the delimitation of an economically sustainable scale, with material and energy use within ecological limits (Saes & Romeiro, 2019; they give an interesting methodological review).…”

Economic policy, environment and sustainable growth

“…However, ecological and Post-Keynesian economics share more similarities in their theoretical framework and methodology rather than differences. In addition, they share the same vision about the complexity of reality and they both focus on analyzing, explaining and understanding all the complex social, ecological and economic relations of society (Saes & Romeiro, 2019).…”