As the climate summit at Glasgow prepared, the economic and climate conditions were understandably major news. Inflation that was said to be transitory had become consistently elevated and there was no end in sight leading to major news articles and discussions. In this acute economic situation, the COP26 Climate Summit proceeded and whatever hopes about what could be expected have now dissipated into a summit that, once again, proved to do little to mitigate what is now climate disruption of some areas of the Earth. In this discussion, I ask Professor Keen about the matter of economics based on empirical information and thermodynamics in order to assess if a better economy could be developed; one that is in line with natural or physical boundaries. We also discuss the current crisis of inflation as it continues into the holiday and winter seasons, particularly where energy use increases. With consumer goods at 30-year highs and many other commodities elevated, we try to understand the causes and what we might expect.
Steve Keen, Ph.D. is an honorary professor at University College London and a distinguished research fellow at the Institute for Strategy, Resilience, and Security.
Layne Hartsell, Ph.D. is a journalist and board member at Korea IT Times. He is also a research professor at the Center for Science, Technology, and Society, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, and at the Asia Institute, Tokyo.
