Srinagar, July 20 -- By Javed Hussain Mir

Kashmir's economy rests on a ledger that few people read.

Beneath the GDP figures lies a portfolio of glaciers, watersheds, orchards, alpine pastures and wetlands that generates water, food, energy, tourism revenue and disaster protection for millions. These assets remain invisible in public accounts.

Natural capital, the accumulated natural wealth that produces goods and services, constitutes the region's true balance sheet. Measuring prosperity while liquidating the foundation that makes prosperity possible produces a false accounting.

Economists have long argued over whether societies face scarcity or achievable abundance. The classical tradition treats land, water, minerals, forests, ferti...