Lost landscapes and failed economies

In Lost Landscapes and Failed Economies, economist Thomas Michael Power argues that the quality of the natural landscape is an essential part of a community's permanent economic base and should not be sacrificed in short-term efforts to maintain employment levels in industries that are ultimately not sustainable. He provides numerous case studies of the ranching, mining, and timber industries in a critical analysis of the role played by extractive industry in our communities.

He also looks at areas where environmental protection measures have been enacted and examines the impact of protected landscapes on local economies.

Power exposes the fundamental flaws in the widely accepted view of the local economy built around the "extractive model," a model that overemphasizes the importance of extractive industries and assumes that people don't care where they live and that businesses don't care about the available labor supply.

By revealing the inadequacies of the extractive model, he lays to rest the fear that environmental protection will cause an imminent collapse of the community, and puts economic tools in the hands of those working to protect their communities.