The energy and economic fundamentals

Here is a series of fundamental points, and then a question:

1. To pay off our existing debts we need the economy to grow
2. Economists are expecting there will be a source of energy to power that growth
3. But cheap oil has run out, oil is ‘peaking’ — supply may match but will no longer exceed demand, and the trend is towards less oil
4. Energy people are expecting there will be money to invest in new energy technologies
5. But how can there be new money if we can’t service the existing debts…?

The economy is a complex adaptive system.

The laws of physics say that to maintain complexity you have to put energy in, otherwise entropy rises.

Without that energy, it will ‘shift’ to a simpler state.

There is an alternative. Biology shows us that it is possible to have a diverse and thriving system, based on low energy inputs. Permaculture shows us how to manage and optimise such systems. Permabusiness shows us the activities needed to maintain a business as a complex adaptive system, a living organism.

http://www.postcarbon.org/article/547829-oil-and-the-economy