Making World Development Work

This work talks about economic development and its relationship to environmental and resource issues in second and third world counties. Unlike other such studies, the essays presented here are by professionals trained in the natural sciences rather than economics or social sciences. Charles Hall and Gregoire Leclerc contend the failure to use natural science in the past has led to many failures and unnecessary environmental destruction. Hall and Leclerc review the basis of neo-classical economics and its application to development and provide critiques from economists themselves. Next, they give a series of historical perspectives, including of some countries that have developed relatively successfully and others (the majority of non-Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries) that have not. ""Making World Development Work"" offers new ways to consider the process of development using science and scientific methods. Of special concern to Hall and Leclerc are the importance and increasing limitations of cheap energy, environmental degradation, and human population growth as the fundamental issues of any accurate economic models.