Thermoeconomics
heterodox economic theory
Thermoeconomics, also referred to as bioeconomics or biophysical economics, is a school of heterodox economics that applies the laws of thermodynamics to economic theory.
Thermoeconomics applies statistical mechanics to economic value.
It is a subfield of econophysics, extenuating to ecological economics.
Thermoeconomics studies the ways and means by which human societies procure and use energy and other biological and physical resources to produce, distribute, consume and exchange goods and services, while generating various types of waste and environmental impacts.
Biophysical economics builds on both social sciences and natural sciences to overcome some of the most fundamental limitations and blind spots of conventional economics.
It makes it possible to understand some key requirements and framework conditions for economic growth, as well as related constraints and boundaries.
Thermodynamics
"Rien ne se perd, rien ne se crée, tout se transforme"
"Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed."
-- Antoine Lavoisier
Thermoeconomists maintain that human economic systems can be modeled as thermodynamic systems.
Thermoeconomists argue that economic systems always involve matter, energy, entropy, and information.
Based on this premise, theoretical economic analogs of the first and second laws of thermodynamics are developed. The global economy is viewed as an open system.
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This entry incorporates text from “Thermoeconomics” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.