Complete Bioeconomics & Degrowth Look Like This

 Most of the Bioeconomics of today is not that of Georgescu-Roegen, the founder of the concept.  Why?  Because the "updated", new century versions are incomplete, and they seem to eschew "degrowth".  There's much more to bioeconomics than just bioenergy, which seems to be the main (or only) focus today.  Plus, the original bioeconomics promoted the idea of degrowth.

In the article below, the ecological and political economist, Giorgos Kallis (one of today's leading champions of degrowth), presents specific policies which would make possible a thriving society without economic growth.

https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/can-we-prosper-without-growth-10-policy-proposals/

Are some of these policies "radical"?  Frankly, yes; but that's the approach needed if we are to get through the ongoing Social-Ecological Crisis now upon us.  If we are to survive and thrive, we must discard the Edward Bernays style propaganda to which we've been subjected for decades.  The neoclassical/neoliberal economists have bamboozled us.

Unlimited Growth + Overconsumption + Inequality + Materialism = a rat race which is destroying not only our habitat, but us as well.  A paradigm shift in Ethics is in order.  Common sense and empirical evidence scream for it.  The main obstacle appears to be the sacrosanct vision of constant, perpetual Growth.

Tick-tock.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

"...Promising the radical, delivering the familiar"

A sneak peek at an upcoming November journal article - all I have is the Abstract, which is telling (link below).  It's looking more & more as though the CIRCULAR ECONOMY (CE) concept is not what it's cracked up to be.  At least, at the present time it's not.

So, why is that important?  1)  CE currently is highly popular in academic and governmental policy making circles.  2)  It's being viewed as an ecological solution to the ongoing Eco-Crisis.  3)  It appears to adhere to the neoclassical/neoliberal false belief that increased efficiency and substitutes can ameliorate the negative environmental "externalities" of unlimited economic growth.  4)  It also appears to ignore the impact of entropy regarding economic throughput and recycling.  5)  And finally, it appears to not take seriously enough the existence of biophysical limitations on Spaceship Earth.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921800920306091

The CE paradigm is in need of a transformative shift which includes abandoning the idea of unlimited growth and overconsumption on a finite planet.  That path has proven to be disastrous.  It's precisely why the world now is seeking an alternative.  Wrapping a Green ribbon around a neoliberal package is not an adequate solution.  The CE model is not Bioeconomics, Ecological Economics, Donut Economics, or Steady State Economics.  It seems to be merely a greener version of neoliberal economics.

In any case, much more dialectical discourse regarding the details of CE needs to occur.  Our lives, our future depend on that process.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Georgescu-Roegen's Bioeconomics Approach to Development and Change

Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen (G-R), a highly skilled mathematician, epistemologist, & economist, was one of the thinkers who laid the bedrock for anything "Green" in economics.  He did so with his concept of Bioeconomics.

G-R spent much of his career at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.  His best known book, The Entropy Law and the Economic Process (1971), dealt not only with the two subjects in the title, but also science & thought, dialectics, epistemology, mathematical analysis, change/evolution, and society.  It's truly a "magnum opus".

Because the book detailed the problems and dangers of unlimited economic growth, it drew negative reactions from neoclassical/neoliberal economists.  After that, the work largely was ignored by mainstream economics.

G-R's Bioeconomics was/is genuinely revolutionary, and it's making a bigtime comeback.  In large part, that's due to the failures/problems of mainstream economics.  The two primary foundations of G-R's theory are as follows.
1. Human evolution, in addition to being within the body (endosomatic), has been outside the body (exosomatic) in the form of tools, machinery, industry, and external energy (e.g., fossil fuels).  Not only exosomatic manufactured components have become part of our evolution, but money as well.
2.  The recognition of the importance of qualitative change caused by new elements in economic processes is crucial to understanding economic reality.  [The mechanistic epistemology of neoclassical/neoliberal economics largely fails to account for such change because primarily (often only) mathematical analysis is used in constructing economic models.  Math formulas dominate.  G-R proposed a combination of math and a dialectical approach (involving discourse, discussion, & reasoned argumentation) in order to determine economic reality.]

In simpler terms, G-R maintained that neoclassical/neoliberal economics could not account for the unanticipated, unknown variables (e.g., the effects of industrial pollutants, social & income inequality, overharvesting of natural resources, and a plethora of anomalies in human behavior) in an economy because only math is used in economic analysis and prediction.  Dialectical reasoning - discussion of opposing views - is needed.  Input of words, not just math formulas.

In relation to development and change, G-R antagonized the mainstreamers by his insistence that economic analysis must be based on reality, observed facts, rather than mathematical abstractions.  He maintained that the neoclassical approach primarily consisted of nothing but conjecture.

For a much deeper look, see the article at the link below.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1467-7660.2009.01603.x

The economic genius of Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen finally is being recognized.
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Not only my opinion.  Stay Well

Challenges Faced by Ecological Economics

Preface

The author of the article linked to farther down the page is Professor Brian Czech.  Here's a bit about him---
https://steadystate.org/brian-czech/
Not long ago, I became a member of his outfit (of which he's the founding president), CASSE.  Here's their Mission statement + their Strategy---
https://steadystate.org/meet/mission/
Join their group and you'll be sent a dynamite, slim volume of essays titled, Best of The Daly News, "from the leading blog in Steady State Economics", and referring to Herman Daly.  Read that, and you'll be somewhat of an expert on Steady State Economics.  [NOTE:  I'm not being paid to promote CASSE.]
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Ecological Economics and its Challenges

The piece at the link below is an outstanding essay by Professor Czech.  It comprehensively describes the history, principles of, and challenges for the academic discipline of ecological economics (eco-econ).

https://steadystate.org/wp-content/uploads/Czech_Ecological_Economics.pdf

If you don't have time now for the entire article, at least read all of Section 5., "Future Directions and Challenges for Ecological Economics" and all of Section 6., "Conclusion".  Catch the rest later.  You will then have the most concise and cogent understanding of eco-econ I've ever seen.

Some of the topics addressed in the above piece include:
1.  a key component of eco-econ, "sustainable scale", which means the size of the economy in relation to the biophysical constraints of its sustaining ecosystem;
2.  the influences of classical, neoclassical, and ecological economists on the discipline of macroeconomics;
3.  ends, means, and philosophy in economics;
4.  allocation of resources;
5.  GDP and sustainability;
6.  distribution of wealth;
7.  ecological implications of the volume and flow of money;
8.  de-growth;
9.  natural capital valuation in relation to macroeconomics; and more.
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Conclusion

If you really want to be part of the ecological movement, it's necessary to become educated far beyond catch-phrases and sound-bites.  On this page alone, you have links to sources which will help advance your eco-socio-education by leaps and bounds.  Take advantage.  The macro-ecosystem known as Mother Earth needs all the help it can get.
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Not only my opinion.  Be Well, and Happy Trails