This paper will trace the intellectual and mythological history of the tension between economists and, first, the “too-many-people" school of environmentalist of 1960s and 1970s (most notably, Paul Ehrlich, Garrett Hardin and Lester Brown); and subsequently, the environmental economists and the community of bio-systems ecologist. The paper will also examine the distinction often made in the literature between "Environmental Economics" and "Ecological Economics." The latter is presumably friendlier to the assumptions that underscore ecological analysis - concerns over the
consequences of "scale" and long run sustainability.
Results/Conclusions
The paper will argue that over time the tensions between economists and demographic environmentalist and, more recently, ecologists find their root not only in how "environmental problems" are framed for analysis but how issues of scale, temporal sequencing and equilibriums are defined. It maybe that while each side in these controversies may come to "understand" one another, ultimately the disciplinary narratives are at odds.
