Is Dismissing Environmental Caution the Manly thing to Do?: Gender and the Economics of Environmental Protection

Many leading mainstream economists downplay the need for care and caution when advising on environmental issues. This essay discusses how gender metaphors and archetypes—which contemporary research indicate have strong effects on our thinking—contribute to such reckless policymaking. Within discussions of economic analysis and policy, the archetypal figures of The Hero, The Old Wife, The Fool, and the Wise Grandmother are seen to play roles. Achieving a balance of bravery and care in environmental policy would require reexamining and combatting deeply rooted sexist and ageist cultural habits.