Publication: Genuine Saving as a Sustainability Indicator
Date
2000-10
ISSN
Published
2000-10
Author(s)
Hamilton, Kirk
Abstract
Growth theory provides the intellectual
underpinning for expanded national accounting and, through
the measure of genuine saving, an indicator of when
economies are on an unsustainable development path. This
theory points in useful directions for countries concerned
with sustainable development. The genuine savings analysis
raises an important set of policy questions that goes beyond
the traditional concern with the macroeconomic and
microeconomic determinants of savings efforts. The questions
of rent capture, public investments of resource revenues,
resource tenure policies, and the social costs of pollution
emissions are equally germane in determining the overall
level of saving, although it is clear that monetary and
fiscal policy remain the big levers. This analysis also
provides a practical way for natural resource and
environmental issues to be discussed in the language that
ministries of Finance understand. This may prove to be an
important advantage as many resource-dependent economies
struggle to achieve their development goals.
Citation
“Hamilton, Kirk. 2000. Genuine Saving as a Sustainability Indicator. Environment Department papers;no. 77.
Environmental economics series. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/18301?locale-attribute=fr License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”