Nature
Date Posted: July 26th, 2007
The Economics of Nature
Nature is both a gift and an intangible asset. Accountants and Economists can sometimes assign a value to what they refer to as an intangible asset. Nature, however, cannot be assigned a value and remains the ultimate intangible asset; indeed the most priceless of our assets.
Nature is for the Rich
Primitive man amidst the luxuriant nature that was part of his life concerned himself with one thing only: surviving. The beauty surrounding him was of no import; a saber-tooth tiger was far more important. Ignoring the warning signs could spell instant death.
Today, with so little of nature left, the accent is not on surviving, but rather on enjoying what remains. The law of supply and demand therefore assigns a high price to a natural setting; thus, at present, only the rich and upper middle-class can enjoy nature.