Revised 24 May 2019


When the steady state economy is in balance, new capital stock implies the replacement of old capital stock. If old capital stock is found to be deficient in that it uses energy inefficiently, requires high maintenance, and is not competitive, then the materials of the old capital stock are recycled and the old capital stock is replaced by new capital stock. 


A steady state economy allows for replacement of existing capital stock, but  does not allow for large scale capital investments into new projects unless the population is prepared to temporarily forgo their consumption level of life. It is therefore of high priority that we set up the necessary low maintenance capital stock now. This especially applies to alternative energy production. At the moment we consume unnecessary  goods and services, waste energy needlessly, and we invest unwisely in projects that rely on and assume a continued growth economy. By re-examining our consumption and investment patterns and by monitoring and controlling inflow and outflow, we can redistribute investments into the type of capital stock that can be more easily sustained in steady state. Some of the investments required may mean allowing some existing capital stock to depreciate. We might also need to accept a lower consumer level of life now. This would allow necessary capital stock to be fully established by the time it is energy cost prohibitive to continue relying on a fossil fuel based economy.