Download or read book Economic Growth and Environmental Quality written by Nemat Shafik and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1992 with total page 55 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is possible to "grow out of" some environmental problems, but there is nothing automatic about doing so. Action tends to be taken where there are generalized local costs and substantial private and social benefit. Where the costs of environmental degredation are borne by others (by the poor or by other countries), there are few incentives to alter damaging behavior. Trade, debt, and other macroeconomic policy variables seem to have little generalized effect on the environment.