The success of an economic system depends on its having a strong basis of legitimacy in society. For much of the twentieth century, the legitimacy of "American capitalism" was based on the public belief that it would most rapidly and successfully advance the economic progress of the American...

Economics and environmentalism are both rooted in deeply held values. This paper shows how their core beliefs are often in basic conflict. This difference is found, for example, in their contrasting ways of thinking about the relationship of human beings and nature. For economists, nature is a...