ANOTHER VIEW OF DEVELOPMENT, ECOLOGICAL DEGRADATION, AND NORTH-SOUTH TRADE

Based on N. Georgescu-Roegen's bioeconomic paradigm, this paper recons iders the neoclassical economic paradigm which endorses continuous glo bal economic growth through stimulated trade. We suggest that, in view of sustainability, it is fundamental to acknowledge: (1) the importan ce of preserving the identity and integrity of economic systems in dif ferent regions of the world through enlarging as much as possible self -sufficiency and equity assessed at national and regional levels; and (2) the importance of including respect for biospheric equilibria as o ne criterion to be used to regulate world economic activity and trade. We examine differences and similarities of the past and present patte rns of ecological degradation. We also present two types of efficiency to assess technological changes and the drive toward unsustainability . Then we discuss an entropy-based theory of North-South trade issues and three points for promotion of sustainability. Finally, we show tha t the true origin of current ecological crisis lies in a deep change i n the perception of the relation between humans and nature that affect s the mode of technological development of modern society.