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Leontief Home | Other Recipients
2001 Leontief Prize
Awarded to Herman E. Daly & Paul P. Streeten
(Akshay
Madhavan, MALD '02, from the Fletcher Ledger - November
19, 2001 issue)
On Tuesday, November
13, Dr. Herman E. Daly and Dr. Paul P. Streeten were
awarded The Global Development And Environmental Institute"s
(GDAE) Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of
Economic Thought. The prize is named after the famed
economist Wassily Leontief, who sought connections between
different disciplines and attempted to transcend a narrow
definition of economics. The award seeks to recognize
outstanding achievements that "address contemporary
realities and support just and sustainable societies."
The Leontief Prize was established in 2000, and its
first recipients were Dr. Amartya Sen and Dr. John Kenneth
Galbraith.
Fletcher Professor
Bill Moomaw (co-chair of GDAE) and Tufts President Lawrence
Bacow introduced Daly and Streeten with high praise
for the recipients" academic and professional achievements.
Dr. Neva Goodwin (co-chair of GDAE) [see
text of Goodwin's comments] also pointed out
that Daly and Streeten have both worked at the World
Bank, and have contributed to the attempts of the World
Bank to address issues of poverty and sustainability.
GDAE's latest publication, "A Survey of Sustainable
Development" is dedicated to the recipients of the
Leontief Prize.
| Dr.
Paul Streeten, Professor Emeritus at Boston University,
whose biographical highlights are lengthy enough
to serve as an independent article, addressed the
issues of environmental protection and sustainability.
[see text of
Streeten's comments] He posited that development
and environmental sustainability are in harmony
and not in conflict with each other (This presupposes
a proper, all-encompassing definition of development).
He stated that economic growth (measured as GDP)
should not be the end objective of societies, but
rather a by-product of thoughtful policy aimed at
improving the environment and ameliorating social
inequality. He divided all goods and services into
"goods", "bads", and "anti-bads" (goods produced
to counter bads). He then pointed out that societies
have four choices to enhance environmental protection. |
Dr. Paul Streeten |
1. Produce fewer
goods, consequently fewer bads (zero growth)
2. Produce more
goods, consequently more bads, and also more anti-bads
(the rate of growth then depends on how you count the
anti-bads)
3. Produce even
more goods and bads (high growth)
4. Produce different
kinds of goods, like environmentally friendly cars
Streeten emphasized
the need to go beyond the traditional view of the production
possibilities frontier. He concluded by distinguishing
soft sustainability proponents (those who want to maintain
the sustainability of outputs), from hard sustainability
proponents (those who want to maintain the sustainability
of inputs). He pointed out that Dr. Daly fell into the
latter category.
Dr. Herman Daly |
Dr.
Herman Daly, currently a professor at the University
of Maryland, addressed issues of scale economics,
environmental sustainability, and social equity.
[see text of
Daly's comments] He criticized neoclassical
economics for emphasizing economic scale, without
being concerned with the potential natural and
environmental scarcity and degradation. He contended
that economics ignores social equity and environmental
sustainability, and argued for a more thorough
study of the costs and benefits of actions rather
than merely the benefits.
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Daly
pointed out that macroeconomics is part of the ecosystem,
not an independent entity itself. Within this ecosystem,
he emphasized the need for social equity, claiming that
irresponsible economic growth may lead to "illth" and
not wealth. He called on wealthier countries to address
this problem with several redistribution (transfer from
rich to poor) and recomposition (transfer from private
goods to public goods) solutions. Daly criticized the
IMF, World Bank, and WTO for a one-dimensional view
of economic growth, without a consideration for the
equity and environmental impacts of such growth.
The most remarkable
aspect of both speeches was the speakers" willingness
to transcend the shackles of a uni-disciplinary approach.
Both Daly and Streeten are trained economists, but did
not hesitate to point to weaknesses in their discipline.
Their multi-disciplinary approach was a refreshing welcome
to addressing global concerns. It is for this reason
that they are deserving recipients of the Leontief Prize.
Such innovative ideas might be at the periphery of today"s
thought; undoubtedly it is at the frontier of future
thought and action.
Akshay Madhavan
was a Fletcher student. He was studying International
Environmental Policy and International Finance at Fletcher.
For further media coverage of the Leontief Event: http://tuftsjournal.tufts.edu
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