I review Carey King’s new book ‘The Economic Superorganism’.

Blair Fix

King, C. W. (2020).

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

. Springer Nature. If you are interested in the megatrends of the 21st century, then Carey King’s new book

 The Economic Superorganism

should be on your reading list. It is a well-written, meticulously researched opus on how to understand the sustainability problems that face humanity.

A Review of Carey King’s ‘The Economic Superorganism’

I discuss biophysical constraints on our ability to cope with the current pandemic.

Back in January, physicist [Brian
Stewart](https://www.wesleyan.edu/academics/faculty/bstewart/profile.html#){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"} asked me to give a talk to his "[Radical
Sustainability](https://owaprod-pub.wesleyan.edu/reg/!wesmaps_page.html?stuid=&crse=009415&term=1201){target="blank"
rel="noopener"}" class at Wesleyan University. The talk was to be in
early April, and Brian offered to fly me to Connecticut for the
occasion. Luckily I decided at the time to give the lecture virtually.
So when the coronavirus forced us all to stay home, nothing much
changed.

On that note, here's a video of the talk. I decided to make it relevant
to our current situation, so I discussed how biophysical economics
relates to the coronavirus pandemic.

::::::: {.jetpack-video-wrapper}
:::::: {.iframe}
::: {#player}
:::

:::: {.player-unavailable}
# An error occurred. {#an-error-occurred. .message}

::: {.submessage}
[Try watching this video on
www.youtube.com](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfbSq17INQs){target="_blank"},
or enable JavaScript if it is disabled in your browser.
:::
::::
::::::
:::::::

\[Embarrassing technical note: pop-up windows on my screen (which I've
edited out) cut off a few of the slides. You can download the original
slides
[here](https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/fix_biophysical_corona.pdf){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"}.\]

**Referenced links:** 
[Wikipedia article on modern monetary
theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Monetary_Theory){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"} 
[Interview with L. Randall
Wray](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sd-ElKMbPI){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"} 
[Vox article on modern monetary
theory](https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/4/16/18251646/modern-monetary-theory-new-moment-explained){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"}

### Summary

As I see it, there are two constraints on our ability to deal with the
coronavirus pandemic. The first constraint is *money*. This gets all the
press right now --- and rightly so. To slow the spread of the
coronavirus, millions of people are staying home from work. Since we
don't want these people to starve, we need to somehow give them money.
But where should this money come from?

While this appears like a monetary constraint, it's actually a *social*
constraint. Money is a social fiction that we can create and destroy at
will. So at the societal level, 'not having enough money' isn't a real
constraint. No, the real constraint is about who has the *power* to
create and distribute money. We usually give most of this power to the
private sector. (Banks create the majority of money when they issue
credit.) We forget that the government can also create money.
Fortunately, many governments of the world are rediscovering this power,
and are paying their citizens to stay at home.

While this (apparent) monetary constraint is on the top of our minds,
there are also *biophysical* constraints on how we can deal with the
coronavirus pandemic. These biophysical constraints are little
discussed, but they're more fundamental than the lack of money.

These biophysical constraints have to do with industrialization, which
has greatly changed the structure of society. Some of this social change
makes coping with pandemics easier. Some makes it harder.

Let's start with the bad. Two hundred years ago, most people lived in
rural areas. This made it easy to keep your distance from other people
(if you had to). Now the vast majority of us live in cities, making it
hard to stay away from other people. So urbanization has made it more
difficult to fight pandemics.

Fortunately, another demographic change offsets the affects of
urbanization. To slow the spread of the virus, many of us are being paid
to sit at home and do nothing. Two hundred years ago this would have
been impossible. Why? Because at the time, most people were farmers. If
they didn't go to work, the population would starve. So a sweeping
'stay-at-home' order would have been impossible.

<figure class="wp-block-image">
<img
src="https://i0.wp.com/economicsfromthetopdown.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/us_pyramid-e1586860194534.png?resize=723%2C333&amp;ssl=1"
class="wp-image-1441" loading="lazy" decoding="async"
data-attachment-id="1441"
data-permalink="https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/us_pyramid/"
data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/economicsfromthetopdown.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/us_pyramid-e1586860194534.png?fit=3317%2C1528&amp;ssl=1"
data-orig-size="3317,1528" data-comments-opened="1"
data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}"
data-image-title="us_pyramid" data-image-description=""
data-image-caption="&lt;p&gt;us sector pyramid&lt;/p&gt;
"
data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/economicsfromthetopdown.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/us_pyramid-e1586860194534.png?fit=300%2C138&amp;ssl=1"
data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/economicsfromthetopdown.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/us_pyramid-e1586860194534.png?fit=723%2C333&amp;ssl=1"
data-recalc-dims="1" width="723" height="333" />
<figcaption>Figure 1: The demographic inversion in the
US. The sector composition of the US in 1800 (left) and in 2010
(right). [Source: <a
href="https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/157974/1/bna-426_20150000_fix_rethinking_economic_growth_theory_preprint.pdf"
target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rethinking Economic Growth Theory from a
Biophysical Perspective</a>]</figcaption>
</figure>

Now things are different. As Figure 1 shows, the US has undergone an
astonishing 
demographic inversion. The vast majority of people now work in the
service sector. This means that many of us can simply not work. Sure,
without a large service sector we can't get our lattes or our manicures.
But we won't starve.

So the coronavirus pandemic is forcing us to run a vast social
experiment. The research question is this: in the short run, how many
jobs can society do without? The answer, it would appear, is an awful
lot.

### Further Reading

Fix, B. (2015). *Rethinking economic growth theory from a biophysical
perspective*. Springer.

Graeber, D. (2018). *Bullshit jobs--a theory*. Penguin.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

#### Support this blog

Economics from the Top Down is where I share my ideas for how to create
a better economics. If you liked this post, consider becoming a patron.
You'll help me continue my research, and continue to share it with
readers like you.

[![patron_button](https://i0.wp.com/economicsfromthetopdown.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/supporter_button-1.png?w=220&ssl=1){.size-thumbnail
.wp-image-1180 .aligncenter decoding="async" attachment-id="1180"
permalink="https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/patron_button/"
orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/economicsfromthetopdown.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/patron_button.png?fit=434%2C102&ssl=1"
orig-size="434,102" comments-opened="1"
image-meta="{\"aperture\":\"0\",\"credit\":\"\",\"camera\":\"\",\"caption\":\"\",\"created_timestamp\":\"0\",\"copyright\":\"\",\"focal_length\":\"0\",\"iso\":\"0\",\"shutter_speed\":\"0\",\"title\":\"\",\"orientation\":\"0\"}"
image-title="patron_button" image-description="" image-caption=""
medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/economicsfromthetopdown.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/patron_button.png?fit=300%2C71&ssl=1"
large-file="https://i0.wp.com/economicsfromthetopdown.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/patron_button.png?fit=434%2C102&ssl=1"
recalc-dims="1"}](https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/membership/){target="_blank"
rel="noopener"}

------------------------------------------------------------------------

#### Stay updated

Sign up to get email updates from this blog.

:::: {.jetpack_subscription_widget}
## {#section .widgettitle}

::: {.wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__container}
Email Address

Keep me up to date
:::
::::

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[![](https://i0.wp.com/economicsfromthetopdown.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/by.png?w=150&ssl=1){.aligncenter
decoding="async"
recalc-dims="1"}](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/){rel="license"} 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
License](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/){rel="license"}.
You can use/share it anyway you want, provided you attribute it to me
(Blair Fix) and link to [Economics from the Top
Down](https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/).

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in January, physicist Brian Stewart asked me to give a talk to his “Radical Sustainability” class at Wesleyan University. The talk was to be in early April, and Brian offered to fly me to Connecticut for the occasion. Luckily I decided at the time to give the lecture virtually. So when the coronavirus forced us all to stay home, nothing much changed. On that note, here’s a video of the talk.

Messaggi di Rogue Scholar

A Review of Carey King’s ‘The Economic Superorganism’

Biophysical Economics and the Coronavirus Pandemic