Features of a Closed-system Economy

Abstract

In a closed-system economy, gross national product is regarded as a “cost of the system”. The Leontiev model relating the components of society's demand to resource use has been extended to make possible quantitative estimates of “social entropy” (dereliction, pollution and waste). This kind of work can be further developed, using general activity analysis and programming or optimization methods, to suggest a rationale for minimizing social entropy and real cost in a more advanced economy and technology. But much better thinking about values and objectives is needed for effective progress.