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Geog 3890 – Ecological Economics
Instructor: Paul Sutton
Spring 2011
Name: __________________________
Exam #1: Parts I & II (Chapters 1-7)
Multiple Guess (20 pts at 2 per question): Write the letter representing the Best
answer in the blank space next to the question number. No penalty for guessing.
1)____________ The second law of Thermodynamics is primarily about?
A) Time
B) Space
C) Entropy
D) Fossil Fuels
E) Black holes
2)_____________ Ecological Economics places significant importance on creating
policy that orients the economy toward an ‘optimal scale’? What
does ‘optimal scale’ mean?
A) Stable Throughput of Matter/Energy in the Economy
B) Fixed growth of Throughput of Matter/Energy in the Economy
C) Increasing growth of Throughput of Matter/Energy in the Economy
D) Reducing the Throughput of Matter/Energy in the Economy to a point where entropy
of the Earth’s ecosystem is no longer increasing
3)______________ Which statement below best summarizes Say’s Law ?
A)
Markets clear of all goods because prices respond to law of supply and demand
B)
Myriad uncertainties make it fundamentally impossible to internalize all external costs
C)
Uneconomic growth occurs when Marginal Disutility exceeds Marginal Utility
D)
The Key fact of Knowledge is that is is anti-entropic.
E)
Supply creates it’s own demand (Build it and they will come)
4)______________ What do Ecological Economists regard as the ‘ultimate means’?
A) Low entropy Matter/Energy
B) Human Labor
C) Human Ingenuity
D) Non-renewable Energy
E) ‘Ultimate means’ are not knowable
5)______________ Choose the two words that best fill in the blanks in this
statement: Fossil fuels are a ____________ resource that
__________ be made excludable.
A) Fund-Service & Cannot
B) Fund-Service & Can
C) Stock-Flow
D) Stock-Flow & Can
&
Cannot
E) Renewable & will inevitably
6)______________The ‘Critical Depensation level’ of a biotic resource is essentially:
A) The minimum viable population of that species
B) The maximum harvestable yield of that species
C) The population of that species at the carrying capacity of its habitat
D) The dollar value of the ecosystem services provided by that species
E) The marginal utility provided by one additional member of that species
7)_____________Presently (ca. 2010) annual Global consumption of oil is
approximately (in Barrels) ?
A) 25 Million
B) 250 Million
C) 25 Billion
D) 250 Billion
8) ______________ Which of the following years best approximates the onset of replacing
human and animal labor with energy stored in fossil fuels?
A) 8000 B.C.
B) 1492
C) 1776
D) 1865
E) 1984
9) ______________ Which of the following is a fundamental characteristic of a Public
Good?
A) Nonrivalness
B) Excludability
C) Non-renewable
D) Pareto Optimality
10) _____________ Assume the material throughput of the global economy grows at
2% a year (it has been growing faster than that); How long
would it take for the material throughput to double?
A) ~5 years
B) ~35 Years
C) ~50 years D) ~ 100 years
E) over 1,000 years
True or False (10 points): Put a “T” or an “F” indicating True or False respectively
in the blank space by each question. No penalty for guessing.
1) _____________ The value of Ricardian land includes soil fertility and minerals.
2) _____________ Solar energy received by the earth is considered low entropy.
3) _____________ Waste absorption capacity is often regarded as a ‘Biotic Resource’.
4) _____________ ‘Peak Oil’ occurs in the year in which the largest quantity of oil is
discovered.
5) ____________ Minerals are an excludable, fund-service, non-renewable resource.
6)______________ Traditional economists posit that prices reflect scarcity.
7)______________ The first law of thermodynamics essentially states that the
quantity of matter-energy in the universe is constant.
8)_______________ An ‘open system’ imports and exports only energy and not
matter.
9)_______________ Humanity presently consumes approximately 400 years of
ancient sunshine in the form of fossil fuels every year.
10) _____________
Richard Dawkins posits that ‘free will’ is merely an
evolutionarily adaptive illusion.
Written Answers (70 points from 5, 10, and 15 points): The following questions
require written, computational, and /or graphical responses.
Relative Rates of Evolution - Short Answer (5 pts): Rank the relative rates at which
Technology, Human Culture, and Biological Organisms evolve. What challenges
manifest if these rates of change are not similar?
Ecosystem Services - Short Answer (5 pts): Define the term ‘Ecosystem Service’. List
five examples of ecosystem services and describe how the quantity of ecosystem services
provided is not well regulated by free markets.
The Lily Pond Riddle - Riddle me this Batperson! - Medium Answer (10 pts) :– A lily
pond has one lily pad on it on day one, two lily pads on day two, four lily pads on day
three and so on (the lily pad population doubles every day). On day 30 the pond is
completely covered in lily pads. On what day was the lily pond half covered in lily pads?
(answer and explain the riddle)
This example of exponential growth is used as an allegory for the ‘From Empty World to
Full World” argument of Chapter 7. Name Four of the five metrics that Daly and Farley
use to argue that we are much closer to full world than most traditional economists would
have us believe?
The Circular Flow Diagram - Medium Answer (10 pts): Draw a diagram that
represents the ‘simple’ version of the circular flow of the economy. Briefly explain the
diagram. Explain how traditional neoclassical economists recognize the limitations of this
diagram and how they correct for its limitations. Explain how Ecological Economists
recognize limitations of this diagram and how they would correct for its limitations.
NCE vs EE Smackdown! - Long Answer (15 pts): Compare and contrast the
perspectives of traditional neoclassical economics and Ecological Economics. Be sure to
include a discussion of the ‘means’ and ‘ends’ of both perspectives. Summarize the
fundamental assumptions of both paradigms and briefly discuss the implications of those
assumptions. Include a statement characterizing the difference in the ‘pre-analytic vision’
of these two perspectives.
Traditional neo-classical economics (Ends, Means, Assumptions)
Ecological Economics (Ends, Means, Assumptions)
Compare and Contrast Ecological Economics and Neo-Classical Economics
Stock – Flow Resources - Short Answer (5 Pts): Define the concept of a stock-flow
resource and provide three examples of a stock-flow resource.
Fund-Service Resources - Short Answer (5 Pts): Define the concept of a fund-service
resource and provide three examples of a fund-service resource.
The Laws of Thermodynamics - Short answer (5 pts): State in your own words the
first three laws of thermodynamics. Briefly describe why the laws of thermodynamics are
relevant to this course.
‘Nihilists don’t even have an ethos man’ (paraphrased from ‘Walter’ in the film: The Big
Lebowski) - Short Answer (5 pts): In the chapter titled: The Fundamental Vision – Daly
and Farley argue that one of the fundamental pre-suppositions of policy discussion are
non-determinism and non-nihilism. What was that all about? And, what two prominent
biologists were many of their comments pointed at and why? (Be sure to define
determinism and nihilism in your answer.)
“But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know.”
(Donald Rumsfeld – then secretary of Defense, on the situation in the second Iraq War)
Short Answer (5 pts). We do not always know the sustainable yield of a fishery; nor can
we predict evolutionary change in organisms, ecosystems, or technology. Chapter 6 on
‘Biotic Resources’ describes the terms ‘Risk’, ‘Uncertainty’, and ‘Ignorance’. Provide
a definition of each and pair each definition with a concrete example.