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Biophysical economics is a basis for economic analysis that acknowledges, analyzes and uses the biological and physical (as opposed to social) properties, structures and processes of real economic systems as its conceptual base and fundamental model. It acknowledges that the basis for nearly all wealth is nature, and views most human economic activity as a means to increase (directly or indirectly) the exploitation of nature to generate more wealth. As such, it focuses on the structure and function of real economies from an energy and material perspective, but often considers the relation of this structure and function to human welfare and to the money (i.e. dollar) flows that tend to go in the opposite direction to energy (Odum 1972).

Biophysical economics is characterized by a wide range of analysts from diverse fields who use basic ecological and thermodynamic principles to analyze the economic process. The history of biophysical thought is traced from the 18th-century Physiocrats to current empirical research, with emphasis on those individuals who contributed to the development of biophysical economic theory. Attention is also given to a critique of the neoclassical theory of natural resources from a biophysical perspective, and how recent empirical biophysical research highlights areas of neoclassical theory which could be improved by a more realistic and systematic treatment of natural resources.

Biophysical Economics

THE NEED FOR A NEW, BIOPHYSICAL-BASED PARADIGM IN ECONOMICS FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE AGE OF OIL

"Social media affect the way organizations do business and communicate externally and internally. There are no longer clear boundaries of inside and outside organization life, and we need to explore how new social media can bring value for businesses in new ways. 'Value' in a strong economic sense is challenged by social media as a door opener for influence that the organizations should take seriously. Can social media increase 'value', as in strengthened brand and reputation based on the market's influence and trust, and in the end bring economic benefit for the business and organization? The virtual market isn't a huge collection of passive consumers; it is represented by networks of people having meaningful dialogues and interaction with both each other and the businesses as such, and represents new ways of market power. Social media tools open up for rethinking value in new innovative ways - and it is interesting to examine whether different organizational cultures will make different valuable outcomes, values in social, reputational, knowledgeable and networked capital senses."

Social media in a business context, as viewed through the eyes of an anthropologist. Lots of great references, but some in Norwegian, unfortunately.

The World Federation of UN Associations is an independent, non-governmental organization with Category One Consultative Status at the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and consultative or liaison links with many other UN organizations and agencies. The Millennium Project functions under the auspices of WFUNA. The Millennium Project of WFUNA is a global participatory futures research think tank of futurists, scholars, business planners, and policy makers who work for international organizations, governments, corporations, NGOs, and universities. The Millennium Project manages a coherent and cumulative process that collects and assesses judgements from its several hundred participants to produce the annual "State of the Future", "Futures Research Methodology" series, and special studies such as the State of the Future Index, Future Scenarios for Africa, Lessons of History, Environmental Security, Applications of Futures Research to Policy, and a 700+ annotated scenarios bibliography.

Bringing Wisdom to Emerging Technology We are at an amazing and critical juncture in human history. If we continue on our current path, we face many potential disasters: overpopulation, shortages of water, oil, and raw materials, financial instability, disease, terrorism, war, and the destruction of species and ecosystems (eg. see Jeffrey Sachs "Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet"). But the next few decades will also bring advances in science and technology which may dramatically improve our lives. It is remarkable that we are simultaneously on the verge of major revolutions in biology, neuroscience, psychology, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and fundamental physics.

A Digital Village is a space where a community expresses their identity though ICT and Digital Media. This may be from an artistic, heritage, or economic perspective or a mixture of all three.This can be done through poetry, digital stories, community newspapers online, image collections (old and new), audio (Internet radio, oral history), animations, video, and text. To engage in the activities the participants need to learn new skills and so the Digital Village also becomes a learning community.

The Budapest Open Access Initiative arises from a small but lively meeting convened in Budapest by the Open Society Institute (OSI) on December 1-2, 2001. The purpose of the meeting was to accelerate progress in the international effort to make research articles in all academic fields freely available on the internet. The participants represented many points of view, many academic disciplines, and many nations, and had experience with many of the ongoing initiatives that make up the open access movement. In Budapest they explored how the separate initiatives could work together to achieve broader, deeper, and faster success. They explored the most effective and affordable strategies for serving the interests of research, researchers, and the institutions and societies that support research. Finally, they explored how OSI and other foundations could use their resources most productively to aid the transition to open access and to make open-access publishing economically self-sustaining. The result is the Budapest Open Access Initiative. It is at once a statement of principle, a statement of strategy, and a statement of commitment.

Entitled "Severe Space Weather Events - Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts," it describes the consequences of solar flares unleashing waves of energy that could disrupt Earth's magnetic field, overwhelming high-voltage transformers with vast electrical currents and short-circuiting energy grids. Such a catastrophe would cost the United States "$1 trillion to $2 trillion in the first year," concluded the panel, and "full recovery could take four to 10 years." That would, of course, be just a fraction of global damages.

The Trade & Environment Database (TED) is a collection of categorical case studies that began with a focus on solely environmental issues, but did not include the economic consequences of other social policy choices, such as culture, rights, or other issues.

Connexions works to connect individuals and organizations working for social change with each other, with information and ideas, and with the wider community. Connexions Online features resources and organizations fostering democratization, economic justice, environmental responsibility, civil liberties, and the creation and preservation of community.

I think that needs to change fundamentally, so that corporations really are in the business of serving all of the factors that help generate wealth-all of the stakeholders, in effect. One way to describe what has to happen, and the way that the situation in the future would be different, would be to describe it as a series of transformations. The first would be a transformation in the market. There would be a real revolution in pricing. Things that are environmentally destructive would be-if they were really destructive-almost out of reach, prohibitively expensive.

From the start of the 21st century, a new form of employment has emerged in developing countries. It employs hundreds of thousands of people and earns hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Yet it has been almost invisible to both the academic and development communities. It is the phenomenon of "gold farming": the production of virtual goods and services for players of online games. China is the employment epicentre but the sub-sector has spread to other Asian nations and will spread further as online games-playing grows. It is the first example of a likely future development trend in online employment. It is also one of a few emerging examples in developing countries of "liminal ICT work"; jobs associated with digital technologies that are around or just below the threshold of what is deemed socially-acceptable and/or formally-legal.

This post would make good fodder for issue mapping

Good potential for an issue mapping exercise

BRICs is an acronym that refers to the fast growing developing economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.