Economics, the people and the planet.

This is an extract from nef (new economics foundation) in a Google search for monetisation that struck me curious, to say the least,

"nef is an independent 'think and do' tank. We believe in economics as if people and the planet mattered."

Economics, as if people and the planet mattered? As if? As if, as, who cares? Is that a problem with the language? Language structure, infrastructure as such, that is incapable to express, accurately or not, the thoughts of people? 'If' it matters. Do the people and the planet matter? It is not clear.

Is it an intrinsic weakness in the economics terminology body that makes it impossible to consider the needs of individuals and the planet or for the discipline of economics, as such, people and the planet do not matter? Do not matter at all? Or, the sensitivities of the nef inventors, for whatever reason, did not allow them to spell it out clearly that their think tank is about economics that people and the planet matter, for the people and the planet and not if the people and the planet matter.