Toward consilience between biology and economics: the contribution of Ecological Economics

During its ten year history Ecological Economics has made a real difference in the way economists look at the natural world and in the way biologists look at the economy. In this survey article we examine the contributions to the Journal in terms of E.O. Wilson's concept of 'consilience', that is, h is argument that the methods and assumptions of any field of study should b e consistent with the known and accepted facts in other disciplines. In par ticular, we examine the contributions of ecological economics to reconcilin g the economic theory of the consumer and producer with biophysical reality . (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.