Why the global economy has become increasingly unstable, and how financial “de-carbonization” could break the pattern of bubble-driven wealth destruction.The global economy has become increasingly, perhaps chronically, unstable. Since 2008, we have heard about the housing bubble, subprime mortgages, banks “too big to fail,” financial regulation (or the lack of it), and the European debt crisis. Wall Street has discovered that it is more profitable to make money fro...

The purpose of this book is three-fold. The first purpose is to posit that the fundamental substance of the universe is energy, and that energy is required (consumed) for any material transformation, or information transmission. The labor theory of value, articulated by the physiocrats and elaborated by Adam Smith, David Ricardo, J.B. Say and Karl Marx was a rough first approximation of the value creation process, in the 17th and 18th centuries, but is now obsolete. Labor is now (mostly) p...

Capitalism is under attack. Defenders say that capitalism has raised billions of people from poverty. But a central activity of capitalism today, Wall Street style, is speculation (gambling), using other people’s money, and privatizing the profits while socializing the debts. Skeptics argue that capitalism has redistributed the wealth of the planet in favor of a very few, meanwhile leaving the planet in bad shape and leaving billions of people out in the cold. Wealth is now extremely mal-d...

Eminent physicist and economist, Robert Ayres, examines the history of technology as a change agent in society, focusing on societal roots rather than technology as an autonomous, self-perpetuating phenomenon. With rare exceptions, technology is developed in response to societal needs that have evolutionary roots and causes. In our genus Homo, language evolved in response to a need for our ancestors to communicate, both in the moment, and to posterity. A band of hunters had no cha...

This Element is an excerpt from Crossing the Energy Divide (ISBN: 9780137015443) by Robert U. Ayres and Edward H. Ayres. Available in print and digital formats.Finally: a coherent, integrated energy strategy based on techniques and technologies that have already been proven in the real world!We envision a national energy strategy with eight main components. One (increased energy efficiency of consumer products, including automobiles) has received serious media atte...

This monograph length report, first published in 1970, originated from a program of research at Resources for the Future that dealt with the management of residuals and of environmental quality. It presents some of the broad concepts that the program was based on and represents the effort to break out of the traditional approach in pollution and policy research, which had treated air, water, and solid waste problems as separate categories. This book will be of interest to students of econo...

Achieving the goals and objectives of sustainable development requires better information about the consequences of proposed actions. Partial information accounts for many failed efforts in the past. The financial implications for the proponent of the projects have often been more thoroughly analyzed than the implications for other actors. The impacts on biological diversity, or on the social fabric of local communities, have often been ignored. Decisi- makers may also focus more on the sh...

Robert V Ayres shares a deeply personal account of his life journey, starting from his challenging upbringing marked by verbal abuse and the absence of his father's validation. Despite these obstacles, he embarked on a path of self-discovery, determined to find his own way in life. Along the way, he encountered various forms of trauma, some of which he inflicted upon himself.Seeking a sense of purpose and belonging, Robert made the courageous decision to join the Army and serve his ...

Tough Test Questions? Missed Lectures? Not Enough Time?Fortunately, there's Schaum's. This all-in-one-package includes more than 600 fully solved problems, examples, and practice exercises to sharpen your problem-solving skills. Plus, you will have access to 20 detailed videos featuring Math instructors who explain how to solve the most commonly tested problems--it's just like having your own virtual tutor! You'll find everything you need to build confidence, skills, and ...

This text discusses the current basis of economic growth, concluding that it is is failing to deliver, and is actually harming our prospects for future security. Further arguments propose a possible long-term strategy for economic revival - eco-restructuring. This strategy involves a shifting away from production of goods to production of services, closing material cycles and eliminating reliance on non-renewable resources.

Tough Test Questions? Missed Lectures? Not Enough Time? Textbook too Pricey?Fortunately, there's Schaum's. This all-in-one-package includes more than 600 fully-solved problems, examples, and practice exercises to sharpen your problem-solving skills. Plus, you will have access to 20 detailed videos featuring math instructors who explain how to solve the most commonly tested problems—it's just like having your own virtual tutor! You'll find everything you need to bui...

The insidious Fleet Street barber slit his first throat in an 1846 "penny dreadful," one of those gaudy serialized novels that gleefully offered thrills and gore to sensation-hungry Victorians. TitledThe String of Pearls, it told of Sweeney Todd, whose shop stood next to St. Dunstan's Church, just a few blocks from the Royal Courts of Justice. On this site, he robbed and murdered hundreds of customers. To dispose of their remains, he carried them to an underground bakery of one Mrs. Lovett...