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Economics & Earth Systems · ECON/IDS/POLS-2420

Ecological Economics

The physics of economics

Not merely the study of economics, but a broad, non-technical, transdisciplinary study of the relationship between humans and the biosphere.

Fall 2026Tues & Thurs, 2:30–3:45Room TBD24 sessionsWithdraw by Nov 17
Syllabus (PDF) Jump to schedule
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Schedule

Chapters are read at home, with a keyword quiz to open the session. The journal articles and book excerpts get ten timed minutes of class time — those are marked “read in class” below. Tick readings off as you go.

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Week 1What Is Economics?Sept 10+
Thurs Sept 10TextbookCh. 1, Introduction: what is economics?
In class
How this course runs
Chapters are read at home, with a short keyword quiz written by hand to open the session. The journal articles and book excerpts are harder going, so those get ten timed minutes of class time instead: you open them from this page on your own device and a timer runs. Look for the timed readings in the schedule below — those are the sessions you can arrive at cold.
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Week 2Physical Laws and PolicySept 15 & 17+
Tues Sept 15Text + articleCh. 2, Physical laws and the “fundamental vision”
Assignment opens
Throughput audit
For the next seven days you track your own material and energy throughput: what enters your life, what leaves it, and in what quantities. Method sheets and a recording template are on the course site. You then write two pages on what you found and, more interestingly, what the exercise could not capture. Marked on the seriousness of the tracking and the honesty of the reflection, not on your numbers. If some categories feel too personal to itemise, describe them at the category level instead. Worth 10 per cent.
Thurs Sept 17TextbookCh. 3, Economics as policy?
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Week 3Systems and ResourcesSept 22 & 24+
Tues Sept 22TextbookSystems theory
Thurs Sept 24TextbookCh. 4, Resource economics
Activity
Pooling the audit
We put the whole class’s results together and set them beside national material flow data from the instructor’s own research. The interesting question is not who consumed most, but which flows nobody managed to see at all.
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Week 4Scarcity and the MarketSept 29 & Oct 1+
Tues Sept 29SupplementaryThe illusion of scarcity
Thurs Oct 1TextbookCh. 8, The market
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Week 5Supply, Demand, FailureOct 6 & 8+
Tues Oct 6TextbookCh. 9, Supply and demand
Thurs Oct 8TextbookCh. 10, Market failures
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Week 6Abiotic and Biotic ResourcesOct 13 & 15+
Tues Oct 13TextbookCh. 11, Failures and abiotic resources
Thurs Oct 15TextbookCh. 12, Failures and biotic resources
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Week 7Behaviour and WelfareOct 20 & 22+
Tues Oct 20SupplementaryBehavioural economics
Thurs Oct 22Text + articleCh. 13, GDP vs. welfare
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Week 8Money and DistributionOct 27 & 29+
Tues Oct 27TextbookCh. 14, Money
Thurs Oct 29Text + articleCh. 15, Distribution
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Week 9Real vs. Monetary, and Policy DesignNov 3 & 5+
Tues Nov 3TextbookCh. 16, The real vs. the monetary economy
Thurs Nov 5TextbookCh. 20, Policy design
Due today
Learning statements — first collection
Bring the notebook you have been writing your learning statements in. I collect them at the end of this session and return them after Reading Week. I am checking that entries are present, dated, and in sequence, not grading the writing.
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Reading WeekNo classesNov 9–13+
Fall Reading Week. CMU is closed Nov 11 for Remembrance Day. Withdrawal deadline is Tuesday Nov 17.
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Week 10Proposals and GlobalizationNov 17 & 19+
Tues Nov 17WorkshopPolicy proposal workshop
Workshop
Policy proposal workshop
Bring a research question, however rough, and leave with a sharper one. You will work it through with classmates rather than with the instructor, which tends to surface the assumption you did not notice you were making. Note that this is also the withdrawal deadline.
Thurs Nov 19TextbookCh. 17–18, Internationalization vs. globalization
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Week 11Financialization and ScaleNov 24 & 26+
Tues Nov 24TextbookCh. 19, Financialization
Activity
Peer review
Draft policy proposals are reviewed by classmates using the web form on the course site. You are looking for the dissenting viewpoint the writer left out, not for typographical errors.
Thurs Nov 26Text + articleCh. 21, Managing scale
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Week 12Allocation and ConclusionDec 1 & 3+
Tues Dec 1Text + articleCh. 23, Allocation and policy examples
Activity
Country mapping
Each of you takes a country and plots its social shortfall against its ecological overshoot using the public data from Fanning and O’Neill. We then put the whole class on one chart. The claim that no country currently achieves both becomes something you built rather than something you read.
Thurs Dec 3AssessmentCh. 24, Conclusion · final test
Assessment
Final test
A short assessment written in class through Populi during this session, with results returned the same day. There is no scheduled final examination for this course.
Due today
Learning statements — final collection
Second and last collection, covering the sessions since Reading Week.
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Week 13Final PresentationsDec 8+
Tues Dec 8AssessmentFinal presentations
Assessment
Final presentations
Present your policy findings to the class, then take about two minutes of unscripted questions from the room and the instructor. Marked on style (5), clarity (5), substance (10), and engagement (5); the engagement mark covers how you handle questions on your own work as well as your contributions to everyone else’s.

Submit

Everything that has to be handed in electronically lives here. Learning statements are handwritten and stay in your notebook.

Chapter presentation peer reviewAfter each presentation+

Your recommended grade and comments for the group that just presented.

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Policy proposal peer reviewNov 24+

Feedback on a classmate’s draft policy proposal. Look for the dissenting viewpoint they left out, not for typographical errors.

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Assignments

Weights and full descriptions are in the syllabus.

10%Class participation+
Graded on quality and consistency. Regular contributions that make room for others score higher than frequent contributions that do not. Grades posted at midterm and at the end of term.
15%Chapter presentations+
One group per assigned reading prepares a point-form synopsis of the main argument and presents it to catalyze discussion. Nothing is written up afterwards. Peer-reviewed using the form on this page, with grades recommended to the instructor.
20%Reading quizzes+
Keyword definitions, written at the beginning of class on paper with devices away. Cannot be made up. Your two lowest scores are dropped automatically, no explanation required.
10%Throughput audit+
Seven days tracking your own material and energy throughput, then two pages on what you found and what the exercise could not capture. Marked on the seriousness of the tracking and the honesty of the reflection, not on your numbers.
20%Policy proposal+
1500+ words analyzing a policy idea from one of the main texts. Provide context, outline its key features, and include dissenting viewpoints. Research question workshop on November 17.
15%Final presentations+
Present your policy findings on December 8, then take about two minutes of unscripted questions. Marked on style, clarity, substance, and engagement.
10%Final test+
December 3, in class through Populi. There is no scheduled final examination for this course.