Ecologically Unequal Exchange and the Value of Money

ABSTRACT Unequal exchange is a common theme in two major global issues, uneven economic development and the environmental crisis. Ecologically unequal exchange is usually derived from the product composition of international trade as an opposition between extractive and industrial economies. However, this explanation fails to capture asymmetric flows of biophysical resources in the new international division of labour. Inspired by an Eco-Marxist approach, a consistent account of the ecologically unequal exchange is presented based on the different value of money between countries. An econometric test confirms the theoretical hypothesis. Unequal exchange emerges as a structural manifestation of the uneven development of capitalism, which exacerbates the global environmental crisis and pre-existing power imbalances by reproducing global economic and ecological hierarchies.