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Economics for the future – Beyond the superorganism

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  • Hagens, N.J.

Abstract

Our environment and economy are at a crossroads. This paper attempts a cohesive narrative on how human evolved behavior, money, energy, economy and the environment fit together. Humans strive for the same emotional state of our successful ancestors. In a resource rich environment, we coordinate in groups, corporations and nations, to maximize financial surplus, tethered to energy, tethered to carbon. At global scales, the emergent result of this combination is a mindless, energy hungry, CO2 emitting Superorganism. Under this dynamic we are now behaviorally ‘growth constrained’ and will use any means possible to avoid facing this reality. The farther we kick the can, the larger the disconnect between our financial and physical reality becomes. The moment of this recalibration will be a watershed time for our culture, but could also be the birth of a new ‘systems economics’. and resultant different ways of living. The next 30 years are the time to apply all we’ve learned during the past 30 years. We’ve arrived at a species level conversation.

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  • Hagens, N.J., 2020. "Economics for the future – Beyond the superorganism," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:169:y:2020:i:c:s0921800919310067
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106520
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    2. Jason C. Bradford, 2020. "The Future Is Rural: Societal Adaptation to Energy Descent," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 79(3), pages 751-798, May.
    3. Carey W. King, 2021. "Interdependence of Growth, Structure, Size and Resource Consumption During an Economic Growth Cycle," Papers 2106.02512, arXiv.org.
    4. Nick King & Aled Jones, 2021. "An Analysis of the Potential for the Formation of ‘Nodes of Persisting Complexity’," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-32, July.
    5. Luis Montesinos & Pedro Checa Rifá & Mireya Rifá Fabregat & Javier Maldonado-Romo & Stefano Capacci & Alessia Maccaro & Davide Piaggio, 2024. "Sustainability across the Medical Device Lifecycle: A Scoping Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-25, February.
    6. Natanael Bolson & Tadeusz Patzek, 2022. "Evaluation of Rwanda’s Energy Resources," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-14, May.
    7. Carey W. King, 2022. "Interdependence of Growth, Structure, Size and Resource Consumption During an Economic Growth Cycle," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-30, March.
    8. Philip Mitchell & Tadeusz Patzek, 2024. "A Simple Physics-Based Model of Growth-Based Economies Dependent on a Finite Resource Base," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-33, September.

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