Sustainable Development and Economic Growth in the Amazon Rainforest

This paper analyzes the implications of the concept of sustainable development for economic growth. Most definitions of "sustainability" currently in use provide little guide for policy while some would in fact work against the process of development if they were to be operationalized. The difficulties in promoting "sustainable development" in the context of a growing economy where there is a large segment of the population living in absolute poverty are illustrated with the case of the Brazilian Amazon