'Economics for People and the Planet' brings together recent essays by James K. Boyce on the environment, inequality, and the economy.

Part One, Rethinking Economics and the Environment, challenges some common assumptions, including the beliefs that economic growth is incompatible with environmental sustainability, capitalist firms single-mindedly pursue profits, and human beings are inherently bad for nature.

Part Two, Environmental Injustice, opens with the author's 2017 Leontief Prize lecture, and discusses how inequalities in the distribution of wealth and power shape both the distribution of environmental harm and the magnitude of environmental degradation.

Part Three, The Political Economy of Climate Policy, addresses the pre-eminent environmental challenge of our time, highlighting how progressive climate policies not only can benefit future generations worldwide but also can improve health and economic well-being today in the countries adopting them.