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Thermodynamics and Economics

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Thermodynamics and Economics
Author(s)Ayres, Robert U.; Nair, Indira
AbstractBecause the manufacture of goods and services incorporates matter and energy, the physical sciences are clearly relevant to economics. In particular, the laws of thermodynamics can be expected to impose constraints on economic processes just as they do on physical processes. The Second Law of Thermodynamics – the law of increasing entropy – constrains economic processes to those that increase the entropy of the universe. This fact has significant, even world-shaking implications for economic theory, especially as it is applied to resource, environmental and technology policy.
IssueNo
Pages62-71
ArticleAccess to Article
SourcePhysics Today
VolumeNo37
PubDateNovember1984
ISBN_ISSN0031-9228
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