Libros UCLV { BETA }

A Thermodynamic Approach to Economics

This book, first published in 2009, stems from research that I began more than three decades ago when I was then working as group economist for the Babcock International Group. Prior to that, my formal university education had included degrees in engineering and management science – the latter in particular covering economics and operations research. What started out as a train of curiosity into parallels between the disciplines of economics and thermodynamics soon developed into something deeper. Following publication of two peer-reviewed papers of mine on the subject in the journal Energy Economics, I was greatly encouraged in my research by other trans-disciplinary researchers with a similar interest, in particular, Dr László Kapolyi, who was then Minister for Industry of the Hungarian government, a member of the Hungarian Academy of Science and a member of the Club of Rome. Not being based at a university and with no research grant at my disposal, my main thrust at that time had been to make a career as director of a consultancy and expert witness business and therefore, until more recently, opportunities to spend time on research had been few. Nevertheless, by the turn of the millennium I was able to find time alongside my consultancy to return to some research, and in 2007 published another peer-reviewed paper in the International Journal of Exergy entitled ‘A Thermodynamic Theory of Economics’, which was followed up with several working papers on monetary aspects and energy models. Interest in this work has been high, spurred on no doubt by general worldwide interest in energy and climate change. This book and third edition is an attempt to bring together all the facets of the research into a coherent whole. Topics covered include the gas laws, the distribution of income, the 1st and 2nd Laws of Thermodynamics applied to economics, economic processes and elasticity, entropy and utility, production and consumption processes, reaction kinetics, empirical monetary analysis of the UK and USA economies, interest rates, discounted cash flow, bond yield and spread, unemployment, principles of entropy maximization and economic development, the cycle, empirical analysis of the relationship between world energy resources, climate change and economic output, and last aspects of sustainability. Further developments have been added since the first and second editions, in particular, thoughts on production and entropy maximisation, order and disorder and relationships to the living world, which has necessitated reorganisation of some of the chapters. The chapter on money has been updated to incorporate empirical analyses of the recent upheavals in world economic activity from 2008 to 2011, though the conclusions reached have not changed, indeed, they have been reinforced. The findings, interpretations and conclusions of this book are entirely those of my own, based on the research that I have conducted. While I have made every effort to be diligent and accurate, readers should satisfy themselves as to logic and veracity of the conclusions drawn. I hope that this third edition represents an improvement and advancement on earlier editions, but would welcome nevertheless any feedback, discussions and corrections on points that readers may have.

A Thermodynamic Approach to Economics

This book, first published in 2009, stems from research that I began more than three decades ago when I was then working as group economist for the Babcock International Group. Prior to that, my formal university education had included degrees in engineering and management science – the latter in particular covering economics and operations research. What started out as a train of curiosity into parallels between the disciplines of economics and thermodynamics soon developed into something deeper. Following publication of two peer-reviewed papers of mine on the subject in the journal Energy Economics, I was greatly encouraged in my research by other trans-disciplinary researchers with a similar interest, in particular, Dr László Kapolyi, who was then Minister for Industry of the Hungarian government, a member of the Hungarian Academy of Science and a member of the Club of Rome. Not being based at a university and with no research grant at my disposal, my main thrust at that time had been to make a career as director of a consultancy and expert witness business and therefore, until more recently, opportunities to spend time on research had been few. Nevertheless, by the turn of the millennium I was able to find time alongside my consultancy to return to some research, and in 2007 published another peer-reviewed paper in the International Journal of Exergy entitled ‘A Thermodynamic Theory of Economics’, which was followed up with several working papers on monetary aspects and energy models. Interest in this work has been high, spurred on no doubt by general worldwide interest in energy and climate change. This book and third edition is an attempt to bring together all the facets of the research into a coherent whole. Topics covered include the gas laws, the distribution of income, the 1st and 2nd Laws of Thermodynamics applied to economics, economic processes and elasticity, entropy and utility, production and consumption processes, reaction kinetics, empirical monetary analysis of the UK and USA economies, interest rates, discounted cash flow, bond yield and spread, unemployment, principles of entropy maximization and economic development, the cycle, empirical analysis of the relationship between world energy resources, climate change and economic output, and last aspects of sustainability. Further developments have been added since the first and second editions, in particular, thoughts on production and entropy maximisation, order and disorder and relationships to the living world, which has necessitated reorganisation of some of the chapters. The chapter on money has been updated to incorporate empirical analyses of the recent upheavals in world economic activity from 2008 to 2011, though the conclusions reached have not changed, indeed, they have been reinforced. The findings, interpretations and conclusions of this book are entirely those of my own, based on the research that I have conducted. While I have made every effort to be diligent and accurate, readers should satisfy themselves as to logic and veracity of the conclusions drawn. I hope that this third edition represents an improvement and advancement on earlier editions, but would welcome nevertheless any feedback, discussions and corrections on points that readers may have.