Allocation, Distribution, Scale, and Depth

One of the important contributions of the ecological economists to the overall economic dialogue has been their emphasis on this notion of economic scale, which they generally define as a measure of the physical volume of matter-energy throughput, or the efficiency with which the economy is using the sources and sinks of the ecosystem. When they introduce the idea of scale, they typically do so in contrast to the more widely accepted ideas of economic allocation and distribution. As they see it, economics must address the perennial questions of allocation, distribution, and scale, seeking the appropriate means via market, state, etc. to the desired ends of efficient allocation, fair distribution, and sustainable scale. (Herman Daly, Beyond Growth, 45-60; Robert Costanza, et.al., Ecological Economics, 80-83) Clearly, there are some value judgments being expressed in the crisp adjectives they choose to define their desired ends, so I will often adopt a more transparently normative, but deliberately ambiguous term like right allocation, right distribution, and right scale...more>>