From waste to kwaste: On the blue economy in terms of knowledge flow

Abstract

Introduced by Gunter Pauli, the Blue Economy, namely bio-inspired industrial ecology or self-profitable circular economy, is a remarkable example of the way the knowledge flow can fundamentally alter micro-, meso- and macroeconomics, and be converted into cash flow. Its reception is also a case of limited rationality in management and economics, and of resistance to change in general. Here I simplify the Blue Economy to the following equation: waste + knowledge = asset. I then explore the implications of this equation in terms of venture capitalism (microeconomics) accounting (micro-mesoeconomics) and in terms of GDP (macroeconomics). I finally discuss its possible impact on politico-economic decision-making and its clear continuity with the knowledge economy. One fertile question thus arises: what could be the micro-meso-macroeconomic stygmergies of the Blue Economy?.