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Nate Hagens

Nate is a well-known speaker on the big picture issues facing human society and currently teaches a systems synthesis Honors seminar at the University of Minnesota ‘Reality 101 – A Survey of the Human Predicament’   Nate is on the Boards of Post Carbon Institute, Bottleneck Foundation, IIER and Institute for the Study of Energy and the Future.  Previously, he was lead editor of The Oil Drum, one of the most popular and respected websites for analysis and discussion of global energy supplies and the future implications of the upcoming energy transition. Nate’s presentations address the opportunities and constraints we face after the coming peak of global economic growth. On the supply side, Nate focuses on the interrelationship between debt-based financial markets and natural resources, particularly energy with and the unique (and so far unplanned for) risks from the coming ‘Great Simplification’.  On the demand side, Nate addresses the evolutionarily-derived underpinnings to status, addiction, and our aversion to acting about the future and offers suggestions on how individuals and society might better adapt to the coming decades.  Ultimately, Nate’s talks attempt to provide a framework for people who would like to participate in shaping the future. Nate has appeared on PBS, BBC, ABC and NPR, and has lectured around the world. He holds a Masters Degree in Finance with Honors from the University of Chicago and a PhD in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont. Previously Nate was President of Sanctuary Asset Management and a Vice President at the investment firms Salomon Brothers and Lehman Brothers.

Nate Hagens talk

An Overview of the Systemic Implications of the Coronavirus

By Nate Hagens, Resilience.org

Let’s create a living open source project—where collective intelligence informs near and intermediate term mitigation, one that helps us as a culture navigate the narrow path between fantasy and doom.  When we see gasoline this summer under $1 per gallon let’s not waste that moment in a Caligula-like orgy of consuming like we used to, but rather, reflect, imagine, and resolve to make America good again.

  • March 25, 2020
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Uncharted Territory: Nate Hagens on coronavirus and the economy

By Asher Miller, Nate Hagens, Post Carbon Institute

At Post Carbon Institute have been closely monitoring the global COVID-19 pandemic and encouraging our staff, volunteers, and broader community to take great caution and practice social distancing. But that doesn’t mean we should disengage.

  • March 17, 2020
Nate Hagens talk

The Human Predicament

By Nate Hagens, Resilience.org

We face a "perfect storm" of interacting global stressors. Is resilience a possible response? What does real resilience look like?  Join some of the foremost thinkers in a discussion on resilience and civilizational collapse.

    • July 9, 2019
    CT episode 12

    Helicopter Money and a Game of Kick the Can (Episode 12 of Crazy Town)

    By Asher Miller, Rob Dietz, Jason Bradford, Nate Hagens, Resilience.org

    Have you ever wondered how dolphins feel about quantitative easing? OK, probably not, but it is important to consider the effects that money and monetary policy have on the real world of energy, society, and the environment. Nate Hagens joins Asher, Rob, and Jason to discuss said dolphins, a never-ending Grateful Dead concert, and the prospects of two mature solar panels giving birth to a little bitty baby solar panel.

    • May 28, 2019

    Where are We Going?

    By Nate Hagens, Resilience.org

    Around 11,000 years ago, as the last ice age ended, our ancestors - in no fewer than 5 locations around the world - took advantage of the new conditions and tried an agricultural way of life.  Fast forward through two momentous phase shifts in human history (agricultural and industrial revolutions), and here we are: approaching 8 billion, seeking freedom, experiences, and material wealth all derived from physical surplus.

    • May 8, 2018

    Energy, Money and Technology – From the Lens of the Superorganism

    By Nate Hagens, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

    During Nate Hagens’ #WEP2018 keynote, he discussed how all of our lives will be influenced by how we react to the coming era of harder to extract and more costly fossil fuels that will be combined with cleaner but more stochastic energy types. 

    • January 26, 2018

    GDP, Jobs, and Fossil Largesse

    By Nate Hagens, D.J. White, Resilience.org

    The good news, of course, is that GDP is an insane metric for success, just as “giant stone heads” was (though to give the Easter islanders their just due, at the time they had no evidence their belief was nuts, while in 2016 we have demonstrable proof that the conclusions of neoclassical economics are refuted by basic science). If we decide that we value happiness, quality of life, and a healthy planet with uncounted thousands of human generations left, we could in principle jettison GDP and do things differently. It won’t be easy, only necessary.

    • November 30, 2017
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