Читать книгу Mineral Resource Economics 1 - Florian Fizaine, Xavier Galiegue - Страница 10

Florian FIZAINE1 and Xavier GALIÈGUE2

1IREGE, Savoie Mont Blanc University, Annecy, France

2LEO, University of Orléans, France

Why did we write a book on the economics of mineral resources? As economists, we would be tempted to say that the absence of a French title on the subject was the motivation for the very existence of the original French edition of this book. Nevertheless, this answer might seem rather sketchy, since there are so many reasons for the creation of this collective work.

To begin with, there are the foundations and knowledge accumulated on the subject over decades by researchers from different disciplines. This knowledge and these representations conveyed through more specialized articles and books convince us of the issues related to the theme. As we will see later, these issues are of various kinds: environmental, social, economic and so on. This knowledge questions us too. Sometimes by its originality, more often by its gravity, it urges us to deepen the field of knowledge to better understand causes, mechanics and consequences and, potentially, to propose levers of action.

Then there are the gaps, shadows and persistent mysteries around the theme. Some of these disappear with the accumulation of work in a discipline and the renewed interest of researchers in understanding what cannot be easily explained. Others – and this is particularly the case for problems associated with our book – are illuminated thanks to the cross-fertilization of several disciplines, with which we are able to fully grasp the intricacies of complex problems, but above all thanks to the interdisciplinary toolbox that can unravel them.

These reasons, although important, are not specific to mineral resources. Therefore, a detour through different time horizons may shed some light on the role of these particular resources for human civilizations. We shall then see in what particular context they come into play.