The Economy Is Rigged
Olin Humanities, Room 102
4:45 pm – 6:00 pm EST/GMT-5
4:45 pm – 6:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Part II. Turnover and throughput
Throughput is the flow of material resources, energy, and ecosystem services extracted from the biosphere, cycled through the economy and, eventually, released back to the environment as waste. To achieve ecological sustainability, we must find ways to slow the rate of throughput. Is it possible to slow throughput while at the same time accelerating capital turnover to raise the demand for labor? We show how a properly designed public revenue system slows throughput even while stimulating economic activity. It raises the prices of virgin materials, promoting reuse, recycling, and repurposing. It raises the relative cost of energy-intensive enterprises and those with large ecological footprints, while lowering the relative cost of labor-intensive enterprises with small ecological footprints. The whole system evolves toward low-throughput patterns of industry, infrastructure, agriculture, and trade.For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].
Time: 4:45 pm – 6:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Location: Olin Humanities, Room 102