The Miscommunications and Misunderstandings of Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen

Abstract

If there is any takeaway from 1971’s The Entropy Law and the Economic Process, it’s this: beneath every intersection of the supply and demand curve, there’s a slow, but steady, process of environmental degradation. Try as you will to recycle waste materials, the book argues—this process cannot be reversed. A formulation of economics backed with this insight was the life vision of Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, whose work on environmental economics has recently received a new round of academic scrutiny. But one might ask, why wasn’t Georgescu well received the first time around, during his time? This paper explores that topic.