Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Synopsis The course is designed to make students familiar with the economic way of thinking and its application to environmental problems. The course stresses the economist's concept of costs as the value of sacrificed alternatives, applicable to choice at the supermarket or to construction of a road through a rain forest. It also stresses the fact that markets and prices are social coordination mechanisms, and examines the conditions under which markets work well and poorly. This leads to a comparison of markets and government regulation as alternative methods of dealing with environmental problems such as pollution.
Assessment Written (1200 words): 50% + Examination (2 hours): 50%