Theory of Reproducible and Non-Reproducible Resources
Until the mid-twentieth century, most economists shared the classical economists’ optimism. Only then did some economists begin to worry about the possibility of running out of natural resources and others about destruction of the natural environment.
In this section, I deal with the progress of studies on natural resources. The development of economic analyses of environmental destruction is taken up in the next section.Natural and environmental resources are classified into two categories: one is reproducible resources, and the other non-reproducible resources. Reproducible resources are those which can be reproduced after extraction by nature itself or by human beings, and thus the stock of relevant resources is constant or even increases. Fish, biomass, livestock, water, wind, and so on, are examples. On the other hand, non-reproducible resources are those which cannot be reproduced after extraction, so that the stock cannot be increased and may run out someday. Oil, coal, and mineral resources are examples.