Events

Speaker: Dr. Carey W. King, Research Scientist, The University of Texas at Austin

Title of Seminar: "Macroeconomic growth Model with stock-flow consistency of Money and natural resources" 

Abstract: Long-term economic growth models often assume that energy resources and technology are not constraints on the economy. Energy transition scenario models often assume that economic growth will not constraint an energy transition. Both types of models often neglect fundamental dynamics and the influence of debt and subsequent interest payments. This paper discusses a newly-developed dynamic long-term growth model that endogenously links biophysical (population, resources) and economic (debt, wages, capital) states, in a stock-flow consistent manner for resources and money. The model blends biophysical principles within a stock-flow consistent Post-Keynesian framework. The model helps explain that the post-1970s decline in wage share for Western economies is a combination of resource constraints and investment behavior. By linking physical and economic fundamentals and effectively replicating important long-term economic trends, the model can serve as a platform for future modifications to address additional economic uncertainties such as the dynamic feedbacks from increasing the rate and magnitude of a transition to a low-carbon energy supply.

Biography: Dr. Carey W. King performs interdisciplinary research related to how energy systems interact within the economy and environment as well as how our policy and social systems can make decisions and tradeoffs among these often competing factors. The past performance of our energy systems is no guarantee of future returns, yet we must understand the development of past energy systems. Carey’s research goals center on rigorous interpretations of the past to determine the most probable future energy pathways.

Carey is Research Scientist at The University of Texas at Austin and Assistant Director at the Energy Institute. He also has appointments with the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy within the Jackson School of Geosciences and the McCombs School of Business. He has both a B.S. with high honors and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He has published technical articles in the academic journals Environmental Science and Technology, Environmental Research Letters, Nature Geoscience, Energy Policy, Sustainability, and Ecology and Society. He has also written commentary for American Scientist and Earth magazines as well as major newspapers such as the Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, and Austin American-Statesman. Dr. King has several patents as former Director for Scientific Research of Uni-Pixel Displays, Inc.