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CALL FOR PAPERS 
 
In the 20th century a great deal of progress was made applying the 
economizing principle to a variety of novel situations. Early examples 
include the efforts of L. C. Gray (1913) and H. Hotelling (1931) to explain 
how to rationally manage an exhaustible resource when property rights are 
clearly defined and the resource owners seek to maximize the (present) 
market value of their property.  The Gray-Hotelling school forecasted 
gently rising prices for exhaustible resources as their prices would 
include a rent component in addition to their rising extraction costs. 
 
Indeed, economic discussion during the last part of the 20th century 
included a sharp debate about whether the finiteness of natural resource 
availability imposed a serious limitation on economic growth and 
development (Meadows, 1974). One stream of thought contradicted the Club of 
Rome and other econometric forecasts about the world collapsing as 
resources run out. Instead, it was argued that as a matter of fact resource 
prices do not rise, they fall in real terms. Tendencies toward resource 
scarcity are outweighed by technical discovery and resource substitutions 
which have occurred in particularly dramatic ways.  
 
The economist, Julian L. Simon made the case that "the availability of 
mineral resources, as measured by their prices, may be expected to 
increase---that is, costs may be expected to decrease-despite all notions 
about 'finiteness.'" (Simon, p. 407). Simon's optimism was premised on a 
certain institutional structure as he remarked that "human imagination can 
flourish only if the economic system gives individuals the freedom to 
exercise their talents and to take advantage of opportunities" (Simon, p. 
408). 
 
Simon's optimism must be tempered by the significant number of market 
manipulations we read about every day in the press.  In these cases, 
private investors petition, lobby and manipulate governmental processes in 
such a way that they restrict competition and produce intended distribution 
effects that benefit some at the expense of others. Rent seeking with 
regard to the Colorado River has become a common theme in the management of 
water resources in the Western states of the United States. In the 
transition from state owned monolithic firms to market-shaped organizations 
in Russia and the former Soviet 
republics, oligarchs underpriced resources stripping value from the state 
to their private joint-stock companies with apparent success. The wealth of 
the Russian oligarchs is much discussed in the international press. At 
other places, auctions for broadcasting rights and various licenses to 
drill for oil come under repeated criticism for their lack of transparency 
and insider corruption. Many of these scandals directly involve the pricing 
and management of natural resources suggesting that natural resource 
economics is still a viable topic for the 21st century. 
 
The AJES is looking for research papers on the political economy of natural 
resource economics with a special emphasis on what we know about these 
processes in light of public policy and geopolitical change. A selection 
will be invited for inclusion in a January 2005 gala issue of The American 
Journal of Economics and Sociology (AJES). The AJES is a 62 year old 
refereed journal that sets no ideological standards for its collaborators 
or contributors and is committed to constructive synthesis in the social 
sciences.  A hard cover version of the volume is also planned.  Authors 
interested in participating should submit a 600-word Abstract to the 
journal editor: Professor Laurence S. Moss, Economics Department, Babson 
College, Babson Park, MA 02457, USA. or [log in to unmask] The deadline for 
submissions of the abstracts is November 30, 2003.  The proposed final 
version of the paper will be due on February 1, 2004.  
 
 
References 
 
Gray, L. C. 1913. "The Economic Possibilities of Conservation." Quarterly 
Journal of Economics 27 : 497 -519. 
 
Hotelling, H. 1931. "The Economics of Exhaustible Resources." Journal of 
Political Economy 39 : 137- 175. 
 
Meadows, D. H. et. al. 1974. The Limits to Growth: A Report for The Club of 
Rome's Project on the Predicament of Mankind Universe Books, New York. 
 
Simon, Julian L. 1996. The Ultimate Resource 2  Princeton University Press, 
New Jersey. 
 
 
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