The relative importance of economics and environment in debate may soon be reversed due to the influence of three fac- tors. Firstly, in the global economy it is hard to hide the unwanted products of economic processe...The relative importance of economics and environment in debate may soon be reversed due to the influence of three fac- tors. Firstly, in the global economy it is hard to hide the unwanted products of economic processes. Secondly, huge advances in sci- ence will reduce the imperfect knowledge of markets, making some monitoring and analyzing tools show the design of sensible and equitable livelihood in communities, which is more important than the motivation of maximising profits for some individuals or firms. Thirdly, China, as the last major player on the planet to take on economic growth, comes from traditions fundamentally differ- ent from those economies that have experienced the Industrial Revolution previously. Its challenges with sustainability and en- vironmental conservation predate Western economics by millennia, and it is implementing policies domestically and starting to work on the world stage that acknowledges that the surroundings are the host for any economic and socio-political system.展开更多
Through human history,wealth has been measured in grain,gold,and,now,dollars.Though counterfeiting of coins and notes goes back a long way,it is only with electronic financial accounting in a global economy tainted by...Through human history,wealth has been measured in grain,gold,and,now,dollars.Though counterfeiting of coins and notes goes back a long way,it is only with electronic financial accounting in a global economy tainted by toxic loans and imaginary funds that there is an urgency to search for a realistic objective way to monitor and regulate what we are doing to our Earth and ourselves.Various schemes using analysis of utility functions,oil equivalents,entropy,energy,and other units have been tried and,while helping to understand some basic processes and flows,have always been swamped by the machinations of financiers and the attention big sums of money attract.Now,the concept of exergy,pioneered in Eastern Europe in the 1950s,is being researched,developed,and applied,especially in China,driven by the desperation to measure the reality beyond the twin specters of global financial and environmental crises.A rough inventory of the matter in the biosphere at the coordinate details of an angstrom and an appreciation of how humans harness and manipulate electromagnetic forces can be enlightening as to what is and is not sustainable.Without that understanding,any financial estimate and proposed stimulus packages or IMF reform will be wildly wrong and may even be headed in the wrong direction.展开更多
文摘The relative importance of economics and environment in debate may soon be reversed due to the influence of three fac- tors. Firstly, in the global economy it is hard to hide the unwanted products of economic processes. Secondly, huge advances in sci- ence will reduce the imperfect knowledge of markets, making some monitoring and analyzing tools show the design of sensible and equitable livelihood in communities, which is more important than the motivation of maximising profits for some individuals or firms. Thirdly, China, as the last major player on the planet to take on economic growth, comes from traditions fundamentally differ- ent from those economies that have experienced the Industrial Revolution previously. Its challenges with sustainability and en- vironmental conservation predate Western economics by millennia, and it is implementing policies domestically and starting to work on the world stage that acknowledges that the surroundings are the host for any economic and socio-political system.
文摘Through human history,wealth has been measured in grain,gold,and,now,dollars.Though counterfeiting of coins and notes goes back a long way,it is only with electronic financial accounting in a global economy tainted by toxic loans and imaginary funds that there is an urgency to search for a realistic objective way to monitor and regulate what we are doing to our Earth and ourselves.Various schemes using analysis of utility functions,oil equivalents,entropy,energy,and other units have been tried and,while helping to understand some basic processes and flows,have always been swamped by the machinations of financiers and the attention big sums of money attract.Now,the concept of exergy,pioneered in Eastern Europe in the 1950s,is being researched,developed,and applied,especially in China,driven by the desperation to measure the reality beyond the twin specters of global financial and environmental crises.A rough inventory of the matter in the biosphere at the coordinate details of an angstrom and an appreciation of how humans harness and manipulate electromagnetic forces can be enlightening as to what is and is not sustainable.Without that understanding,any financial estimate and proposed stimulus packages or IMF reform will be wildly wrong and may even be headed in the wrong direction.
