When addressing the socio-environmental challenges associated with the traditional economy mainstream researchers and organizations start from the point of view "Our current economy is linear” “ The economy of the future is circular”, taking the position that linearity is the root cause of sustainability problems, see for example: https://www.metabolic.nl/what-we-do/circular-economy/?gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwpJWoBhA8EiwAHZFzfoJkA5YMY6R6Crk_hIVmoam5SZZ8zjojNJOsh6PgMWygbt0t8LV8TRoCupMQAvD_BwE
They seem to be doing this without asking themselves the question, why is the current economy linear? Since when it has been linear? Could not be that the root cause of that linearity is the root cause of sustainability problems? If this was the case, then addressing linearity by going circular a la traditional market still leaves the root cause of the problem untouched and active.
And this raises the question: Is economy linearity the root cause of social, economic, and environmental challenges? If yes, why?. If not, why not?
What do you think?
Am in agreement with your observations, dear Lucio Muñoz =the root cause of that economic linearity is the root cause of sustainability problems.
Imo, the root cause of that economic linearity are the established and dominant accounting principles.
Richard Stone (1984) and Maurice Allais (1988) are 2 exceptions who were already on a good track, with respect to the (cyclical,dynamic) accounts of society. Historically, M.Tugan-Baranovsky and N. Kondratieff have also to be mentioned, in terms of earlier economic thought:
In the period from the 1920s to 1930s the theory of economic cycles underwent dramatic changes. Due to the research of such famous economists as Nikolay Kondratieff, Joseph Kitchin, Wesley Mitchell, Simon Kuznets, and Joseph Schumpeter the idea of a whole system of economic cycles (with characteristic periods between two and sixty years) was developed. The idea of a system of intertwined economic cycles is nowadays paramount to the school of evolutionary economics and its development promises rather interesting future outcomes.
Stephen, thank you for commenting, My views and the reason for bringing to the attention this idea is that bringing circularity to a linear problem without addressing the root cause of linearity or the broken circularity goes deeper than accounting principles as it comes from the inside the model, The root cause is distorted traditional market prices as they reflect and have always reflected only the economic costs of production at a profit. If markets are linear because they are based on distorted market prices, then making circular distorted market prices can not be the solution as the root cause is still in place and active..... As you know environmental cost internalization leads to green markets and to green market circularity as now the environmental issue is an endogenous and profit making issue.
In the coming years I will address views of great thinkers in the past from the sustainability point of view to highlight that as paradigm shifts take place, previous ideas are left behind or need to be adjusted due to the closing of paradigm shift knowledge gaps that are created and which is needed to be able to operate in the higher level paradigm.....It is a fact, traditional market thinking is inconsistent with green market thinking....For example, a shift to green market thinking affects ideas such as the working of corporations/monopolies and other market forms as green market entities or the ideas of pareto optimality or ideas like the Tobin tax or Q ratio as green concepts or the ideas of the thinkers you mentioned when looked from the distorted market price point of view.
In summary as related to the question here, addressing linearity by bringing external circularity leaving the internal root cause of the linearity problem in place may give us the opportunity to see the environment collapsing in front of our eyes as the world pretends to do something.
I do appreciate your comment
Respectfully yours;
Lucio
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