A government deficit means that more money has been transferred in the form of payments or investments from the government sector to the private sector than the government has received in taxes. As shown in the drawing,  GOVERNMENT DEFICIT = INCOME AND SAVING for the private sector. Not all the income transferred from the government to the private sector will be employed and some of it will be saved in bank accounts. It is therefore correct to say that Government Deficits lead to Private Sector Saving. It is equally true to say that Investment  leads to Saving. This is important because in the current recession one of the major problems is the massive amount of private debt. In these circumstances a cumulative government deficit is necessary to help the private sector save and repay some of its debt. Note: I have not taken into account the foreign sector here which can also contribute to private sector income and saving.

Simple model of the global economy, the global carbon cycle, and planetary energy balance.

ECONOMIC GROWTH feeds on itself, provided the growth engine is fed with materials and finance. In this highly simplified representation  some of the factors that influence economic growth are show in the incircled green fields. Governments can influence economic growth positively via investments  and payouts. The most obvious tool which governments can use to slow an overheated economy is taxation.

Causal loop diagram illustrating a variety of feedback loops influencing the price of oil.

Output vs. depreciation from Meadows

WIP based on Bill mitchell's blogs. 

Unfolding story based on Bogdanov's original A Short Course of Economic Science text and Pilyugina's 2019 article Revisited July 2026 after reading Sven Beckert's 2025 Book Capitalism a Global HIstory (see short video and longer video) Causal loop summary based on my Gemini interaction using Gene Bellinger's AI prompts

The term 'work' has been  used in this model in the sense of economic activity to include not only work done by people but also by machines. The model shows 8 positive feedback loops that reinforce work and the need to work. From the perspective of physics, civilisation can be described as a MECHANISM FOR USING ENERGY AND DOING WORK.  

Work, however, has some unavoidable consequences. The second law of thermodynamics tells us that any ‘work’ requires the use of energy and that DOING WORK entails the generation of WASTE HEAT. The laws of physics also tell us that CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels will cause global warming. These unintended and unavoidable consequences are highlighted in the model by prominent arrows.

Can the structure of this system be changed to avoid a foreseeable collapse of civilisation?

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Simple model of the global economy, the global carbon cycle, and planetary energy balance.

Barangay IRAWAN Systems Model

This model also shows the operation of a simple economy. It differs from Model 1 primarily in the representation of all goods in the economy by units of measure of a higher level of abstraction. Thus, the same model can represent economies at different levels.

The simulation demonstrates how differing rates of consumption affect Savings.

THE 2017 MODEL (BY GUY LAKEMAN) EMPHASIZES THE PEAK IN POLLUTION BEING CREATED BY OVERPOPULATION WITH THE CARRYING CAPACITY OF ARABLE LAND NOW BEING 1.5 TIMES OVER A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE (PASSED IN 1990) AND NOW INCREASING IN LOSS OF HUMAN SUSTAINABILITY DUE TO SEA RISE AND EXTREME GLOBAL WATER RELOCATION IN WEATHER CHANGES IN FLOODS AND DROUGHTS AND EXTENDED TROPICAL AND HORSE LATTITUDE CYCLONE ACTIVITY AROUND HADLEY CELLS

THE MODEL IS ZONE SPECIFIC AS GLOBAL WEATHER IS NOT HOMOGENEOUS BUT A COLLECTION OF HEAT BUMBPS DEPENDENT ON POPULATION SIZE OF URBAN HEAT ISLANDS AND MASSED CONURBATIONS AND AGGLOMERATIONS 

The World3 model is a detailed simulation of human population growth from 1900 into the future. It includes many environmental and demographic factors.

THIS MODEL BY GUY LAKEMAN, FROM METRICS OBTAINED USING A MORE COMPREHENSIVE VENSIM SOFTWARE MODEL, SHOWS CURRENT CONDITIONS CREATED BY THE LATEST WEATHER EXTREMES AND LOSS OF ARABLE LAND BY THE  ALBEDO EFECT MELTING THE POLAR CAPS TOGETHER WITH NORTHERN JETSTREAM SHIFT NORTHWARDS, AND A NECESSITY TO ACT BEFORE THERE IS HUGE SUFFERING.

WIP based mostly on Jan Toporowski 2013 vol 1 and 2018 vol 2 books on Michal Kalecki: An Intellectual Biography  

Assignment 1- Part 2 Energy Economics and Fossil Fuels

Challenge p.212 Business Dynamics, Sterman

not a mathematical model. just a general one

Circular equations WIP for Runy.

Modern industrial civilisation has created massive interdependencies which define it and without which it could not function. We all depend on industrial farming to produce the food we eat, we depend on gasoline being available at the gas station,  on the availability of electricity and even on the bread supplied by the local baker. Naturally, we tend to support the institutions that supply the amenities and goods to which we have become accustomed: if we get our food from the local supermarket, it is likely that we would be opposed to it’s closure. This means that the economic system that relies on continuous growth enjoys implicit societal support and that nothing short of environmental disaster or a shortage of essential raw materials will impede it’s growing indefinitely. It is not hard to work out the consequences of this situation!