The foundational components of complex self-regulating ecosystems: Implications for a sustainable economy

Background/Question/Methods

Humanity could not resolve its critical health concerns until knowing the structure and functions of the human body, and the nature of pathogens threatening it (the germ theory of disease). We lack an equivalent understanding of our economy, leaving humanity vulnerable to a litany of social and environmental challenges. These challenges will remain unresolved until the economic flaws responsible for their creation are addressed. The objective of this 30-year analysis was to explore the foundational (governing) components of ecosystems and economies, and to understand the processes of ecological restoration that may inform the processes of economic restoration. This research is rooted in complexity theory, which does not lend itself to traditional scientific approaches. However, the data supporting this work is derived from hundreds of studies spanning economics, ecology, and related disciplines, synthesized into the 2021 book, Ecosystems as Models for Restoring our Economies. A comparative analysis was used to evaluate the components, processes, theories, and functions common to ecosystems and economies, and inform a hypothesis as to the foundational components of each system. Knowledge of an economy’s/ecosystem’s foundational (i.e., governing) components, and the dynamic relationships between those components, has eluded economists and ecologists since the inception of each discipline.

Results/Conclusions

As informed by the literature, and supported by 3 decades of experience in ecology, economics, and business, I posit that ecosystems and economies exist as highly complex self-regulating systems, and so may be viewed as homologous—not simply analogous—to one another. Three foundational (i.e., governing) components of ecosystems and sustainable economies include diversity, energy, and resource transfers (i.e., trade), which interact in predictable ways to inform resource use efficiency, productivity, resilience, and biomass/capital accumulation in ecosystems and economies. If economies and ecosystems are indeed homologous in structure, we may apply concepts of plant community succession, the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, the dynamic equilibrium hypothesis, and other ecological theories and hypotheses to inform the restoration of a sustainable economy. Implications include economic resilience, sustaining net economic productivity, energy and carbon neutrality, enduring solutions to the wealth gap, and a host of social and environmental benefits. The technology and knowledge necessary to restore our economies to a sustainable state is greater today than any other point in history. To guide the public’s will and earth’s resources toward restoring a sustainable economy, the foundations of a complex self-regulating system must first be understood.