[FoRK] Does economics violate the laws of physics?

[Russell Turpin]

On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 11:55 AM, Ken Ganshirt @ Yahoo
<ken_ganshirt at yahoo.ca> wrote:
> It's encouraging that they "get" that energy is different and they recognize that
> other nonrenewable resources might have a similar attribute (potential for
> depletion to zero, or so low as to be no longer useful). But I'm still not sure
> they get the real problem with any form of current economics:
>
>   It's Population, Stupid! It's all about Carrying Capacity.

Economic growth in the past has enabled an increase in carrying
capacity. That's not the same as saying a) that economic growth always
will do so, or b) that economic growth requires an increase in
population. Europe and Japan are both experiencing population
declines. Where that causes economic problems has mostly to do with
demographics, and especially with regard to pension programs that
failed to take into account such demographic change.

I suspect economic growth in the future may be expressed in quite
different physical form than it has in the past. It's important to
remember that neither money nor utility are measured in BTUs or long
tonnes.