Ecologist: Hello, I'm an ecologist.
Economist: Hi, pleased to meet you I'm sure.
Ecologist: I am looking for a new kind of economics .... erm, can you help me?
Economist: Sure, take a seat. Now tell me, what is it you are after?
Ecologist: Well, for a start I'm worried about the state of the planet, global warming and all that ... I was thinking about raising taxes ...
Economist: Whoa! Steady on. Look, why don't you tell me your concerns, and let me do the economics.
Ecologist: Okay then.
Economist: Fire away.
Ecologist: I want a system that enourages people to be careful with the world's resources.
Economist: (writing this down) careful allocation of resources ...
Ecologist: I also want people to be energy efficient, and highly productive when they do use energy so as not to waste it.
Economist: ... energy efficiency and productivity ...
Ecologist: I want people to be open minded enough to try new things.
Economist: ... entrepreneurial system ...
Ecologist: And I want the system to produce things that people actually need, and not to waste energy creating junk that nobody wants.
Economist: ... consumer demand.
Ecologist: Have you got all that?
Economist: Yes I have. You want a system that rewards energy efficiency, that makes best use of the world's resources, that is geared towards rewarding efficient production, that makes things in response to consumer demand and not just because some committee tells them to, and provides signals to consumers when supplies are in short supply to discourage them from overconsumption.
Ecologist: That's sounds about right. What do you have in mind? I've tried living on a commune and ploughing a field using horse and cart, but I want to expand the concept on a global scale. I'm a bit worried about sustainability though ...
Economist: Have you thought about free market capitalism?
Ecologist: (spluttering) .... but ... but .... Bush ... Blair ... CO2 ... Iraq ... good intentions hijacked by liberalism ...
Economist: Because in the whole of human history, nobody has ever come up with a more efficient system for the intelligent allocation of the world's resources in the face of scarcity.
Well ... I can always dream, can't I?