Environmental economics and ecological economics: two complementary paradigms

Abstract

There is no better environmental policy than a good economic policy. This seems to be the basis of the approach to the study of environmental problems from the perspective of economic science. In this sense, the work presented here aims to contribute elements to situate the debate on the usefulness of the two fundamental currents that address the problem of the study of the relationship between the economy and the environment: environmental economics and ecological economics. In the first part, the particularity of the study of the environment from the perspective of neoclassical economics is discussed. The second part explores the heterodox vision of the study of nature from the perspective of economics: ecological economics.