The Economic Superorganism: Beyond the Competing Narratives on Energy, Growth, and Policy

Product Description

Energy drives the economy, economics informs policy, and policy affects social outcomes. Since the oil crises of the 1970s, pundits have debated the validity of this sequence, but most economists and politicians still ignore it. Thus, they delude the public about the underlying influence of energy costs and constraints on economic policies that address such pressing contemporary issues as income inequality, growth, debt, and climate change.  To understand why, Carey King explores the scientific and rhetorical basis of the competing narratives both within and between energy technology and economics.
Energy and economic discourse seems to mirror Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion: For every narrative there is an equal and opposite counter-narrative. The competing energy narratives pit “drill, baby, drill!” against renewable technologies such as wind and solar.  Both claim to provide secure, reliable, clean, and affordable energy to support economic growth with the most benefit to society, but how? To answer this question, we need to understand the competing economic narratives, techno-optimism and techno-realism.  Techno-optimism claims that innovation overcomes any physical resource constraints and enables the social outcomes and economic growth we desire. Techno-realism, in contrast, states that no matter what energy technologies we use, feedbacks from physical growth on a finite planet constrain economic growth and create an uneven distribution of social impacts. In The Economic Superorganism, you will discover stories, data, science, and philosophy to guide you through the arguments from competing narratives on energy, growth, and policy. You will be able to distinguish the technically possible from the socially viable, and understand how our future depends on this distinction.   

Review

1.      “In exploring the debate between technological optimism and technological realism, concerning the importance of market forces vs. limits, The Economic Superorganism is a book that will endure in relevance.” — Joseph Tainter, Professor of Environment and Society, Author of The Collapse of Complex Societies
2.      “This book is panoramic in its vision of recasting economic discourse … the book is readable by the scholar and the informed citizen, willing to question the orthodoxy of natural resources management within contemporary economic doctrines.”  — Saleem H. Ali, Blue & Gold Distinguished Professor of Energy and the Environment, University of Delaware 
3.      “This book deserves to be widely read by energy and climate scientists, policy makers, reporters, and economists.”  — Richard Heinberg, Author and Senior Fellow of the Post Carbon Institute 
4.      “This is a must read for those thinking seriously about our future, but be forewarned, you will likely have to rethink your own views.” — John Day, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, School of the Coast & Environment, Louisiana State University 
5.      “Carey King indicates the weak points in the narratives of mainstream economics, which hardly cares about fundamental natural laws.  The book is well written, and the reader feels the intellectual fire that moves its author. I highly recommend it.” — Dr. Reiner Kümmel, Professor of Theoretical Physics, University of Würzburg 
6.      “The Economic Superorganism offers a fresh perspective on the sometimes heated, sometimes myopic policy debate over the feasibility of a green energy transition.” — David Spence, Baker Botts Chair in Law, the University of Texas at Austin School of Law 
7.      “Growth-addicted politicians and bureaucrats are running planet Earth on premises and principles drawn from the ecological vacuity of neoliberal economics. As Carey King deftly reveals, this is analogous flying a 787 Dreamliner using the intellectual equivalent of a 1955 Volkswagen Beetle driver’s manual.” — William Rees,  professor emeritus and former director of the