The cause of global change has been the subject of heated debate in the past few years, especially in relation to climate change and biodiversity decline. However, a systematic explanation for changes in the biosphere at global level has still to be found. In this volume, a wide range of viewpoints from ecology and economics are surveyed to see if some light can be shed on this problem. Economists analyse how economic growth predictably alters the earth, and ecologists consider how the drive for fitness and consequent population growth changes the globe. Both look at the institutional interface between humans and the biosphere, and explain global change as the consequence of human non-cooperation and conflict. The conclusion is left to the reader: the object of this volume is to initiate debate on global change at this most fundamental level.