Kent Klitgaard's Books

Energy and the Wealth of Nations

An Introduction to Biophysical Economics

By: Charles A.S. Hall,Kent Klitgaard

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Energy and the Wealth of Nations

An Introduction to Biophysical Economics

By: Charles A.S. Hall,Kent Klitgaard

In this updated edition of a groundbreaking text, concepts such as energy return on investment (EROI) provide powerful insights into the real balance sheets that drive our “petroleum economy.” Hall and Klitgaard explore the relation between energy and the wealth explosion of the 20th century, and the interaction of internal limits to growth found in the investment process and rising inequality with the biophysical limits posed by finite energy resources. The authors focus attention on the failure of markets to recognize or efficiently allocate diminishing resources, the economic consequences of peak oil, the high cost and relatively low EROI of finding and exploiting new oil fields, including the much ballyhooed shale plays and oil sands, and whether alternative energy technologies such as wind and solar power can meet the minimum EROI requirements needed to run society as we know it. For the past 150 years, economics has been treated as a social science in which economies are modeled as a circular flow of income between producers and consumers. In this “perpetual motion” of interactions between firms that produce and households that consume, little or no accounting is given of the flow of energy and materials from the environment and back again. In the standard economic model, energy and matter are completely recycled in these transactions, and economic activity is seemingly exempt from the Second Law of Thermodynamics. As we enter the second half of the age of oil, when energy supplies and the environmental impacts of energy production and consumption are likely to constrain economic growth, this exemption should be considered illusory at best. This book is an essential read for all scientists and economists who have recognized the urgent need for a more scientific, empirical, and unified approach to economics in an energy-constrained world, and serves as an ideal teaching text for the growing number of courses, such as the authors’ own, on the role of energy in society.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

507

Publisher

Springer

Published Date

ISBN 10

3319662198

ISBN 13

9783319662190

The Science of Strategic Conservation

Protecting More with Less

By: Kent D. Messer,William L. Allen III

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Science of Strategic Conservation

Protecting More with Less

By: Kent D. Messer,William L. Allen III

Billions have been spent on land conservation but too little attention had been paid to how cost-effective these investments have been. With budgets increasingly constrained, conservationists must learn to fully harness their funds to protect critical resources. Messer and Allen are pioneers in making conservation selection more successful, cost-effective, scientific, and transparent. This book introduces powerful mathematical tools available for project selection, using real-life examples and a practical step-by-step approach. Readers can readily apply these methods to their own work, accomplishing more with less by combining the individual benefits of structured decision-making, mathematical programming, and an understanding of market forces and human behavior. The authors highlight tools from conservation science, mathematics, land use planning and behavioral economics, showing how they can be combined to help protect key environmental resources. This is an invaluable volume for all students, professionals and stakeholders associated with conservation programs.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

345

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1108126383

ISBN 13

9781108126380

The Vega Factor

Oil Volatility and the Next Global Crisis

By: Kent Moors

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Vega Factor

Oil Volatility and the Next Global Crisis

By: Kent Moors

How oil volatility is affecting the global political scene, and where the oil market is heading The world is rapidly moving towards an oil environment defined by volatility. The Vega Factor: Oil Volatility and the Next Global Crisis takes an in-depth look at the most important topics in the industry, including strategic risk, why traditional pricing mechanisms will no longer govern the market, and how the current government approaches have only worsened an already bad situation. Details the industry's players, including companies, traders, and governments Describes the priorities that will need to be revised, and the policies needed to achieve stability Explains how today's oil market is fundamentally different from the pre-crisis market Oil prices affect everyone. The Vega Factor explains the new international oil environment of increasing consolidation and decreasing competition, and reveals how consumers and investors can navigate price volatility and new government policies.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

324

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons

Published Date

ISBN 10

1118077091

ISBN 13

9781118077092

Jevons' Paradoxes

William Stanley Jevons and the Roots of Biophysical and Neoclassical Economics

By: Kent Klitgaard

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Jevons' Paradoxes

William Stanley Jevons and the Roots of Biophysical and Neoclassical Economics

By: Kent Klitgaard

In 1865, economist William Stanley Jevons published The Coal Question, describing the crucial role that coal played in British economic development. Here, he enunciated what has come to be known as the Jevons paradox, which stated that improvements in resource efficiency leads to greater resource use as the expansion of scale occasioned by lower operating costs overwhelms the savings due to greater efficiency. The implications for any sustainability scenario are enormous and a major theme of this book. While The Coal Question provided the theory that was a precursor to peak oil and resource limits to growth, it was followed six years later by the Theory of Political Economy, the first English-language work of neoclassical economics, which denies the importance of energy as a special commodity. In spite of this apparent contradiction, in this book biophysical economist Kent Klitgaard makes clear that there is no epistemological break between The Coal Question and Theory of Political Economy. Indeed, the Jevons paradox makes little sense in the absence of a behavioral theory grounded in marginal utility, which recognizes the satisfaction that each of us gains as consumers of one more unit of a good or service. Jevons could not solve this paradox in light of his belief that coal mines were becoming exhausted and more expensive to operate, and that there was no substitute for coal. However, he was uninterested in questions of sustainability; rather, he wanted to maintain British industrial and imperial dominance. Did the eventual substitution of oil for coal simply allow us to run through other resources at an accelerated rate? Indeed, the petroleum economy of the 20th and early 21st centuries has presented vastly expanded opportunities for the operation of the Jevons Paradox. This book shows the connections among the different paradoxes in Jevons’ work, and exposes the potentially fatal flaws that confound technological solutions to the sustainability challenge.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

120

Publisher

Springer Nature

Published Date

ISBN 10

3030935892

ISBN 13

9783030935894

Jevons' Paradoxes

William Stanley Jevons and the Roots of Biophysical and Neoclassical Economics

By: Kent Klitgaard

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Jevons' Paradoxes

William Stanley Jevons and the Roots of Biophysical and Neoclassical Economics

By: Kent Klitgaard

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

120

Publisher

Springer Nature

Published Date

ISBN 10

3030935892

ISBN 13

9783030935894

Energy and the Wealth of Nations

Understanding the Biophysical Economy

By: Charles A. S. Hall,Kent A. Klitgaard

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Energy and the Wealth of Nations

Understanding the Biophysical Economy

By: Charles A. S. Hall,Kent A. Klitgaard

For the past 150 years, economics has been treated as a social science in which economies are modeled as a circular flow of income between producers and consumers. In this “perpetual motion” of interactions between firms that produce and households that consume, little or no accounting is given of the flow of energy and materials from the environment and back again. In the standard economic model, energy and matter are completely recycled in these transactions, and economic activity is seemingly exempt from the Second Law of Thermodynamics. As we enter the second half of the age of oil, and as energy supplies and the environmental impacts of energy production and consumption become major issues on the world stage, this exemption appears illusory at best. In Energy and the Wealth of Nations, concepts such as energy return on investment (EROI) provide powerful insights into the real balance sheets that drive our “petroleum economy.” Hall and Klitgaard explore the relation between energy and the wealth explosion of the 20th century, the failure of markets to recognize or efficiently allocate diminishing resources, the economic consequences of peak oil, the EROI for finding and exploiting new oil fields, and whether alternative energy technologies such as wind and solar power meet the minimum EROI requirements needed to run our society as we know it. This book is an essential read for all scientists and economists who have recognized the urgent need for a more scientific, unified approach to economics in an energy-constrained world, and serves as an ideal teaching text for the growing number of courses, such as the authors’ own, on the role of energy in society.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

410

Publisher

Springer Science & Business Media

Published Date

ISBN 10

1441993983

ISBN 13

9781441993984

Energy and the Wealth of Nations

An Introduction to Biophysical Economics

By: Charles A.S. Hall,Kent Klitgaard

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Energy and the Wealth of Nations

An Introduction to Biophysical Economics

By: Charles A.S. Hall,Kent Klitgaard

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

507

Publisher

Springer

Published Date

ISBN 10

3319662198

ISBN 13

9783319662190

Book's by Kent Klitgaard

Energy and the Wealth of Nations

Energy and the Wealth of Nations

The Science of Strategic Conservation

The Science of Strategic Conservation

The Vega Factor

The Vega Factor

Jevons' Paradoxes

Jevons' Paradoxes

Jevons' Paradoxes

Jevons' Paradoxes

Energy and the Wealth of Nations

Energy and the Wealth of Nations

Energy and the Wealth of Nations

Energy and the Wealth of Nations

Username

Password

Username

Password

Password again

Birthday

Email