Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen

Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen
Nicolae Georgescu
Born(1906-02-04)February 4, 1906
Constanța, Romania
DiedOctober 30, 1994(1994-10-30) (aged 88)
Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Resting placeBellu Cemetery, Bucharest
Alma materUniversity of Bucharest, Paris Institute of Statistics, University College London
Known forUtility theory, consumer choice theory, production theory, biophysical economics, ecological economics
SpouseOtilia Busuioc
AwardsThe Harvie Branscomb Award
Scientific career
FieldsEconomics, mathematics, statistics
InstitutionsUniversity of Bucharest (1932–46), Harvard University (1934–36), Vanderbilt University (1950–76), Graduate Institute of International Studies (1974), University of Strasbourg (1977–78)
Academic advisorsTraian Lalescu, Émile Borel, Karl Pearson, Joseph Schumpeter
Doctoral studentsHerman Daly, Kozo Mayumi
Other notable studentsMuhammad Yunus
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Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen (born Nicolae Georgescu, 4 February 1906 – 30 October 1994) was a Romanian mathematician, statistician and economist. He is best known today for his 1971 magnum opus The Entropy Law and the Economic Process, in which he argued that all natural resources are irreversibly degraded when put to use in economic activity. A progenitor and a paradigm founder in economics, Georgescu-Roegen's work was decisive for the establishing of ecological economics as an independent academic sub-discipline in economics.

In the history of economic thought, Georgescu-Roegen was the first economist of some standing to theorise on the premise that all of earth's mineral resources will eventually be exhausted at some indeterminate future point.[1]: 13 [2]: 164f [3]: 160–171  In his paradigmatic magnum opus, Georgescu-Roegen argues that economic scarcity is rooted in physical reality; that all natural resources are irreversibly degraded when put to use in economic activity; that the carrying capacity of earth – that is, earth's capacity to sustain human populations and consumption levels – is bound to decrease sometime in the future as earth's finite stock of mineral resources is being extracted and put to use; and consequently, that the world economy as a whole is heading towards an inevitable future collapse, ultimately bringing about human extinction.[4] Due to the radical pessimism inherent to his work, based on the physical concept of entropy, the theoretical position of Georgescu-Roegen and his followers was later termed 'entropy pessimism'.[5]: 116 

Georgescu-Roegen graduated from Sorbonne University in 1930 with a PhD in mathematical statistics with the highest honors.[6] Early in his life, Georgescu-Roegen was the student and protégé of Joseph Schumpeter, who taught that irreversible evolutionary change and 'creative destruction' are inherent to capitalism.[7]: 138f  Later in life, Georgescu-Roegen was the teacher and mentor of Herman Daly, who then went on to develop the concept of a steady-state economy to impose permanent government restrictions on the flow of natural resources through the (world) economy.[8]

As he brought natural resource flows into economic modelling and analysis, Georgescu-Roegen's work was decisive for the establishing of ecological economics as an independent academic sub-discipline in economics in the 1980s.[9]: 150f [10]: 65–68 [11]: 422 [12]: 302f  In addition, the degrowth movement that formed in France and Italy in the early-2000s recognises Georgescu-Roegen as the main intellectual figure influencing the movement.[13]: 1742 [14]: xi [15]: 1f  Taken together, by the 2010s Georgescu-Roegen had educated, influenced and inspired at least three generations of people, including his contemporary peers, younger ecological economists, still younger degrowth organisers and activists, and others throughout the world.

Several economists have hailed Georgescu-Roegen as a man who lived well ahead of his time, and some historians of economic thought have proclaimed the ingenuity of his work.[16]: 79 [3]: 1 [17]: 102  In spite of such appreciation, Georgescu-Roegen was never awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics, although benefactors from his native Romania were lobbying for it on his behalf.[18]: 270f  After Georgescu-Roegen's death, his work was praised by a surviving friend of the highest rank: Prominent Keynesian economist and Nobel Prize laureate Paul Samuelson professed that he would be delighted if the fame Georgescu-Roegen did not fully realise in his own lifetime were granted by posterity instead.[19]: xvii 

The inability or reluctance of most mainstream economists to recognise Georgescu-Roegen's work has been ascribed to the fact that much of his work reads like applied physics rather than economics, as this latter subject is generally taught and understood today.[20]: 71 [21]: 695 [22]: 106–109 

Georgescu-Roegen's work was blemished somewhat by mistakes caused by his insufficient understanding of the physical science of thermodynamics. These mistakes have since generated some controversy, involving both physicists and ecological economists.[23]: 21–28 [24][25]: 56f [26]: 1215–1218 

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  6. ^ Daly, Herman E. (1995). "On Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen's contributions to economics: an obituary essay". Ecological Economics. 13 (3): 149–154. doi:10.1016/0921-8009(95)00011-W.
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  13. ^ Martínez-Alier, Juan; et al. (2010). "Sustainable de-growth: Mapping the context, criticisms and future prospects of an emergent paradigm" (PDF). Ecological Economics. 69 (9): 1741–1747. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2010.04.017.
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  15. ^ Kallis, Giorgos; et al. (2015). "Introduction" (PDF). In D'Alisa, Giacomo; et al. (eds.). Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era (Book info page containing download samples). London: Routledge. ISBN 9781138000766.
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  17. ^ Mirowski, Philip (1992). "Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen". In Samuels, Warren J. (ed.). New Horizons in Economic Thought. Appraisals of Leading Economists. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. ISBN 978-1852783792.
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  20. ^ Blaug, Mark (1985). Great Economists since Keynes (Book info page at publisher's site). Totawa: Barnes and Noble. ISBN 978-0389205173.
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