• @gblin
    gblin CC BY-NC-SA
    1
    @fil
    1

    Exponential Economist Meets Finite Physicist | Do the Math
    ►http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2012/04/economist-meets-physicist

    Physicist: Hi, I’m Tom. I’m a physicist.

    Economist: Hi Tom, I’m [ahem..cough]. I’m an economist.

    Physicist: Hey, that’s great. I’ve been thinking a bit about growth and want to run an idea by you. I claim that economic growth cannot continue indefinitely.

    Economist: [chokes on bread crumb] Did I hear you right? Did you say that growth can not continue forever?

    Physicist: That’s right. I think physical limits assert themselves.

    gblin CC BY-NC-SA
    • @fil
      Fil

      I can twist my head into thinking of quality of life development in an otherwise steady-state as being a form of indefinite growth. But it’s not your father’s growth. It’s not growing GDP, growing energy use, interest on bank accounts, loans, fractional reserve money, investment. It’s a whole different ballgame, folks. Of that, I am convinced. Big changes await us. An unrecognizable economy. The main lesson for me is that growth is not a “good quantum number,” as physicists will say: it’s not an invariant of our world. Cling to it at your own peril.

      #croissance #économie #écologie

      Fil
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