The Political Economy of Sustainable Development ― Valuation, Distribution, Governance

Dirk Wolfson shows how sustainable development may be organized, valued and distributed by introducing situational contracting as an interactive and contextual mode of governance. Throughout the entire process of policy-making and delivery, situational contracts assign rights and responsibilities, fortifying the weakest link in democracy: the way in which political systems mind the preferences and ambitions of the people. This book importantly recognizes that efficiency and distribution are two sides of a coin that can be distinguished but not separated. Situational contracting does not judge distributional concerns, but reveals how parties in supply and demand think about fairness. It provides a road map for where we want to go, serving the prevailing ideology in implementing the trade between efficiency and fairness, like a democratic institutional arrangement should.

Dirk Wolfson served with the IMF and Dutch Treasury, and was Professor of Economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands, before his election in the Senate. Upon retirement, he returned to academia. He is a member of the Dutch Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences and publishes widely on economics, the environment and political philosophy.