'Over the past 50 years, environmental economics has evolved from a small fringe of economics to a full-fledged sub-discipline, with many hundreds of practitioners populating academic institutions, multilateral organizations, national and sub-national governments, private firms, and non-governmental organizations. This unique book by Spencer Banzhaf portrays the nature, scope, and methods of economic analysis of environmental and natural resource issues through a decidedly historical lens, and thereby examines five decades of intellectual growth. Whether you are an economist, a student of environmental economics, or a skeptic of the ability of economics to provide insights about these issues, you will benefit from reading this book.' Robert Stavins, Harvard University