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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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