Circuits

For charged particles to move through an electrical system, the particles must be allowed to feed back into their source, establishing a “circuit.” If such a path is not provided, or it is breached in any way, significant motion stops, signals can not be created, and the system is effectively non-functional. Electrical engineers call such a condition an “open circuit.” Alternatively, a path may inadvertently be established that bypasses all of the components of the system, leading directly back to the source; this is called a “short circuit” and is equally useless.

Similarly, an economy will cease to function when part of the system disables the flow to the rest of the system (by either becoming incapacitated or too wasteful). If this happens or the system is “disconnected” from its resources, it will become the equivalent of an open circuit. If the extraction of resources requires most of the resources, leaving little or none for the rest of the system, the system becomes the equivalent of a short circuit. The system could also be disabled if part of the system establishes its own link back to the resources, thus bypassing the rest of the system (from the viewpoint of the rest of the system, this is considered a short circuit).

The world economy is well on its way to becoming an open circuit, with a combination of waste and using up of resources (becoming effectively disconnected).