Limits to economic growth

2 min read Original article ↗
  • Comment
  • Published:

Nature Physics volume 18pages 844–847 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Across the world, decisions on investment and policy are made under the assumption of continuous economic expansion. Fundamental physical limits may soon put an end to this phase of development, as foreshadowed by the 1972 report The Limits to Growth.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals

Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription

$32.99 / 30 days

cancel any time

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 12 print issues and online access

$259.00 per year

only $21.58 per issue

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Meadows, D. H., Meadows, D. L., Randers, J. & Behrens, W. W. The Limits to Growth (Universe Books, 1972).

  2. Nordhaus, W. D. Brook. Pap. Econ. Act. https://doi.org/10.2307/2534581 (1992).

  3. Herrington, G. J. Ind. Ecol. 25, 614–626 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Murphy, T. W. J. Appl. Phys. 111, 104909 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Kovacic, Z., Spanò, M., Piano, S. L. & Sorman, A. H. J. Evol. Econ. 28, 565–590 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Moreau, V. & Vuille, F. Appl. Energy 215, 54–62 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Bithas, K. & Kalimeris, P. Sustainability 14, 1459 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Heun, M. K. & Brockway, P. E. Appl. Energy 251, 112697 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Murphy, T. W., Murphy, D. J., Love, T. F., LeHew, M. L. A. & McCall, B. J. Energy Res. Soc. Sci. 81, 102239 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Smil, V. Energy Transitions: Global and National Perspectives (Praeger, 2017).

  11. GDP (constant 2015 US$) (World Bank, 2021); https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD

Download references

Acknowledgements

I thank K. Griest seeding the idea of consuming the Milky Way Galaxy in 2,500 years at a 2% growth rate. H. Daly and B. McCall graciously provided constructive feedback.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Thomas W. Murphy Jr

Authors

  1. Thomas W. Murphy Jr

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas W. Murphy Jr.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Murphy, T.W. Limits to economic growth. Nat. Phys. 18, 844–847 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01652-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01652-6

This article is cited by