Recorded July 30th, 2023
Description
In Part 3 of this Frankly Series, Nate (just after watching the movie Oppenheimer!) breaks down the logic of how we COULD arrive at a post-growth future. Our global situation is complex and not static – IF we somehow are able to shrink the global economic output (which would imply significantly less oil use) we first have to navigate ‘the 4 Horsemen of the 2020s’. Nate outlines 10 possible avenues for how this could happen, not as a prescription but as a description of various possible scenarios. The implications of the complexity of our global systems means a path to a world without our current dependence on growth will not be an easy one. Yet understanding these hurdles between our current situation and an eventual post-growth future is essential to shifting the initial conditions of such a global transformation towards ‘better-than-the-default’ outcomes. How do impending and converging risks narrow our options for ways to move towards a different global system – and can we manage to protect the things that make life worth living?
Show Notes
00:00 – Just Stop Oil !? Part 1 + Part 2
00:07 – Oppenheimer
00:50 – Post-growth
01:20 – Reality Roundtable
03:10 – Mordor Economy
03:20 – The Great Simplification
06:16 – Carbon Pulse
06:22 – The monetary system and it’s claim on real resources
09:08 – Nate on Geopolitics and Resource conflicts
09:50 – 6 continent supply chain
09:59 – The average supermarket has 100,000 SKU products
10:14 – Comparative Advantage
10:49 – 85% of US medical ingredients are imported
11:10 – Social contract
11:38 – Dick Gephardt + TGS Episode
11:55 – Just Stop Oil
12:05 – Degrowth
12:15 – Renewables will not be able to fully support the growing global energy needs
12:44 – We are hitting an all time high of coal use
13:00 – Renewables are only adding to the grid, but not reducing totally energy use or carbon emissions
13:30 – ⅔ of our emissions are from fossil fuels
14:49 – Jevons Paradox
15:47 – Japan buying 50% of their own government bonds and stocks
17:36 – Untax.org
19:19 – Buckminster Fuller – We’re not going to change the existing situation unless we have something better to look forward to
22:22 – Spite Frankly
More: Global Debt Levels Put Economies And Countries At Risk | Global Finance Magazine (gfmag.com)
Comments
We changed commenting systems on September 10, 2026 as part of a site-wide functionality and security upgrade. Your past comments have not disappeared, and you can still log in with your old Disqus account credentials if you wish. Contact us with any questions.
Of course “we” can do anything, Mao, Hitler, and Stalin showed us that. The problem is how do we get it done without massive loss of life. Also how do we get the descendants of Mao and Stalin to go along with what we want to do? Both have shown they have expansionist policies. They are not known for playing nice with others.