ENL is a conceptual framework - that is, a set of well-defined concepts and analytical tools.  Its purpose is to establish economic objectives that can achieve sustainable well-being.  These objectives include the types and quantities of outputs to be produced, the target population level, the optimum degree of labor productivity, and the appropriate mix of local production and trade.

Because this is ENL's exclusive role, it is not a complete economic theory.  It must therefore be supplemented by another framework that permits detailed analysis of an economy's operations as the objectives are pursued.

ENL was developed to guide the transition from unsustainable capitalism to a sustainable economy, and to help manage such an economy once it is established. Standard economics (including its heterodox offshoots) is unfit for these purposes because it supports the capitalist growth project.  Ecological economics is also unsuitable because it made devastating conceptual compromises to gain academic acceptance.  There appear to be no other serious alternatives.

Although standard and ecological economics cannot guide the economic transition, some of their components will be indispensable for developing the additional framework mentioned above.

ENL is based on the following ethical principle: all human beings, present and future, are of high and equal worth.  This means that people within the geographical scope of analysis are treated equitably with respect to the distribution of outputs, labor, and wastes.  The following are the main concepts that arise from this ethical foundation:

• Value and cost are objective, not subjective as in current theories.  Specifically, they are defined in terms of humankind's physical health, which can be empirically assessed.

• Outputs are divided into those that meet human needs and those that satisfy human wants.  A need results in increased physical health when it is met.  A want instead results in life enjoyment - fun, entertainment, pleasure, etc. - when it is satisfied.

• Environmental limits are determined by considering three factors: habitat destruction, waste expulsion, and the utilization of renewable resources.

• Natural resources are allocated to outputs in proportion to the well-being that results from their production and consumption.  Well-being is the combination of met needs and satisfied wants.

• Outputs cannot be produced beyond their target quantities, which are determined by needs, wants, costs, and environmental limits.

• Workers and consumers are both economic actors and human beings whose well-being must be maximized.

• A society's population cannot rise above its target level, which is determined by social well-being and the economy's maximum sustainable scale.

The structure of an ENL-based economy will be largely determined by two factors: the framework's economic logic and the principle of minimum effective change.  According to the latter, a capitalist economy should be modified only as required for sustainable well-being.  Thus, aspects of capitalism that are not inherently damaging to people or nature - private economic ownership, markets, competition, etc. - should be retained in suitable forms.  The intent is two-fold: to minimize social resistance to this difficult transition, and to utilize capitalism's useful and non-destructive features in the new economy.

Given the advanced state of the ecological crisis, these two factors imply extremely tight market regulation, new and modified institutions to implement ENL logic, and the likely shift of economic control from private hands to the state in areas that are critical to sustainable well-being.

A detailed introduction to ENL is available here. The Kindle and paperback versions of a book on ENL are available here.  A free PDF of the book is here.