Government and the Environment: The Role of the Modern State in the Face of Global Challenges

In the today's global "commercial society" an inquiry into the economic role of government is gaining momentum. Many crucial goods for the wellbeing of a society are not "commercial", national security and clean air are great examples. This means that the economic role of government is not limited to cure the so called "market failures" but it has to provide for non-commercial goods. Unfortunately in the last few decades the decline of the political-economic culture of western post-industrial societies has left scope for people to blindly believe in a free, deregulated market.