The Physical Destruction of Nauru: An Example of Weak Sustainability

Basic to neoclassical economics is the sanctity of individual choice, the fungibility of economic goods and inputs, and faith in the market system to bring forth substitutes as reiative prices change. These notions are part of what Joseph Schumpeter called the "pre-analytic vision" of neociassicai economics (Daly t995) and they are central to the concept of weak sustainability, a topic of intense debate among ecological economists (Cabeza Gutes t996; Gowdy t997; Gowdy and O'Hara t997; Martinez-Alier t995; Pearce and Atkinson t993; Tisdeli 1997; Victor t99t). Weak sustainabiiity stipulates that an economy is sustainable if its capacity to generate income for future generations, a capacity embodied in its capital stock, is maintained (Hartwick 1978; Solow t99i). The assumption of substitutabitity among different kinds of capital is crucial to weak sustainability. When, as in neoclassical theory, natural capital (non-renewable resources and ecological services, Folke et al. 1994) and manufactured capital are considered to be substitutes, it is permissible to focus only on total capital stock. Weak sustainability is achieved if an economy saves more than the combined depreciation of the various kinds of capital, even if it draws down its stock of natural resources (Pearce and Atkinson 1993).