Lost Landscapes and Failed Economics: The Search for a Value of Place

In a devastating, scholarly attack on ""folk"" economics, Power turns on its head much of what has become common wisdom in his field. With ample statistics and penetrating logic, he demonstrates how and why economies based on extractive industries (mining, logging, ranching and agriculture) are rarely stable and rarely lead to a high quality of life. Equally cogent is his argument that environmental protection seldom inhibits economic expansion to a significant degree, and that it almost always causes an increase in the perceived standard of living. For instance, in looking at the issues of forestry and the timber industry, he states, ""Denuded, biologically sterile landscapes are economic disaster areas. They lose residents and businesses. Forested landscapes can create economic vitality simply by attracting and holding residents""--hence, his support for measures designed to protect forests from overlogging. An economics professor at the University of Montana, Power examines a wide array of current federal practices--water subsidies in the arid West, laws permitting mining and grazing on federal land, predator control and below-cost timber harvests in national forests--and, in every case, challenges the idea that such policies are good for the economy at the local, state or national level. Power isn't an exciting prose stylist, and the many charts, pie graphs and statistical analyses he employs may deter casual readers. But his argument is powerful and should be listened to by citizens and policymakers alike. (July)