提出年月日 2006.01.

10

Fredrick Soddy, Chemist, Economist, and Ecologist：

His Concern about the Sustainable Development and Monetary Reform

Kenji Katsuragi
Rieko Nakamura
Hiroo Kumagai

Keyword: Virtual Wealth, Debt, Monetary Reform, Economic Growth, Sustainable Development

１．Introduction

Fredrick Soddy (1877-1956) was a very famous British chemist, a Nobel

Prize laureate in chemistry in 1921, that developed radiochemistry and
discovered isotope, and a economist that had studied energy problem and
monetary economic system and published many works, but has been
completely ignored by orthodox economists.
Soddy’s economic theory is revaluated by T. Murota in 1979 from the
point of view on energy and entropy. [1] It was pointed out that Soddy had
recognized wealth as form of useful energy. “Wealth presents works to life
activities, and it is convenient and practical to make a distinction between the
internal energy of life, which maintains metabolism and the external energy
which an animal or plant can use in doing work on its environment. Capital is
not the accumulation of wealth, but the Debt to the nature. “
In 1984, one of the authors (Kasturagi) introduced the essay of H. E.
Daly that pointed out Soddy’s assertion in 1920’s to 1930’s to be the
forerunner of the environmental economics. The following is the brief
summary of the report : (i) From the financial point of view, in the currency
circulation based on the inconvertible bank note or book money under the
state control of currency system in the modern age, currency is increasingly
financed to production capitals as the capital loan apart from the many
regulations reflecting the reality of economics. (ii) It leads not only to surplus
of purchasing power of market but also to excess spending of public works
and to war. (iii) As a result it causes destruction of the environment and
further deprives of opportunities for the development from the next
generation [1].
M. Nakayama was interested in the process in which Soddy moved into
the economic study apart from chemical one [3]. Before the World War I,
Soddy advocated in his works that the scientific progress would solve
problems such as the energy problem and so poverty based on optimistic
scientism. Through the War, he came to think that the society was not
mature enough to accept the scientific progress appropriately. After the War
he began to study economics to answer this question, “why does scientific
progress bring about not just bounty but also harm to people?” He
concluded that it was because of the existing monetary economic system,
and took a radical stance, appealing that all scientists must realize the social
meaning of their scientific study.
 Soddy’s active stage was from the scientific view in the time of the
scientific discoveries of atom and radioactivity that astonished scientists by
the release of the vast energy, and socially speaking in the changing times
through 30 years before and after the World War I. From Soddy’s biography
recently published, we can see that he was an active scientist who
communicated positively his opinions through lectures, pamphlets, or books to
solve the social problems of his era.
Glasgow, where Soddy got his first academic post in Glasgow University
in 1904 , was the center of the development of the socialism and the Labor
Party at the time. In the atmosphere of this university, he came to get
interested in politics concerning poverty and inequality or suffragette
movement. He recognized that huge nuclear energy of radioactive materials
had the potential to be a new energy source so that it could replace finite
resources like coal. Hoping that the power of science would solve social and
political problems, he gave lectures at assemblies or issued pamphlets.
However, he warned about the potential risk of nuclear energy used for a fatal
bomb as the war came close to start. He also expressed his concern in his
speech when he started his new post at the Aberdeen University in1914.
In the post-war year 1919, he was invited by the Oxford University.
Soon after the invitation, he became a representative of “National Union of
Scientific Workers” from 1920 to 1921. The Union was established in 1917
by the main scientists of the Cambridge University. In the interview, he is
reported to say “even the traditional usage of science shows how much it is
necessary to have a new social discipline before the several-million-folded
fearful power is released… Under the only idea supported by the Labor
Party, the more wonderful gift from science is the only one thing to be
entrusted to the world… Should the individualism compromise with
socialism or cooperatism, or should science be stopped? Scientific
discovery is the only way of development and the only way to increase the
total happiness of human beings. These are my reasons, as a scientist, why
I support the ambition of today’s labor movement: It supports various ideals
beyond cheapness and offers to get away from evil assets of misfortunate
era.”[4]
As he inclined to be a strong leftist, he feuded with the authority of
Oxford University. The government also considered him as a leader of the
opposing group against the policy of industrial-academic cooperation.
Respected members of the science organizations also thought him as a
critcizer for social problems. All alone, he started to study economics
around 1921 to explain the maladies afflicting the society, and then, published
works one after another. However, the academic community of economics
considered him as an amateur or outsider, and ignored him.

In this study, we would like to verify Soddy’s assertion of the social reform
via monetary reform on the historical background, to introduce how his
concepts of economy is depended on the law of physics and to revaluate a
present intent of his theory about “Wealth and Debt” by comparing with
contemporary economists such as J.M. Keynes [5].
 Fredrick Doddy’s photo ( donated by Herman E. Daly in 1984 )

２. Ignored material base of economics: The Concepts of Wealth as

Debt

When did people recognize the socio-scientific concept that "economy is

exceeding abnormally" and see into the future? This awareness began in
part at some time between the two world wars, that is the economic historical
viewpoint of our 20-years studies [6]. Regarding this aspect, Soddy had
forecasted the unprecedented economic development by releasing of the
nuclear energy on one hand, At the same time, he related the very likely
nuclear war with the nightmare of “the destruction of the earth ” due to “the
limitless desire and economic growth” on the discussion about the economic
system and its reform before the worldwide financial crisis. Then, he realized
that the keyword was monetary system and control by the society
management.
"Limits to Growth" issued in 1972 by MT Project of D.L. Meadows and
others brought about a widespread awareness to us that the economic growth
must be considered in conjunction with the earth’s limited resources and
materials and waste. It is suggested that we need to take the initiatives to
taking policies of technology, culture and politics within ”the ecological
footprint” (resources and wastes for the economic growth) that could not
exceed the capacity of the earth. It is important that growth should not
necessarily lead to the destruction of the earth. In conjunction to the writing of
the 3rd work of "Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update in 2004, [7] Meadows
said "the conditions of destruction after the growth would occur when the
growth exceeds, that is, the demands of the source or sink of the earth
increased to go beyond the level of sustainability.” He wrote that human
beings have proceeded to the stage of non-sustainability since 1992 .
The starting point of Soddy’s thought is that though wealth follows the
law of thermodynamics, debt follows the law of mathematics rather than
physics and will not rot in the long term; neither will it be consumed in the
daily life. Contrary, it increases yearly because of the well-known simple or
compound interest. The process of compound interest is impractical in
physics. Soddy said, ”wealth is a positive physical quantity, but debt is a
negative quantity. It has no concrete existence, and is to the physicist an
imaginary quantity.” [8]
Soddy emphasized that even if the accumulation of the present surplus
has any physical significance, it will be not converted into the future profit, and
that it can be converted into the future profit only under the social agreement.
Debt is like an order form to the future benefit produced by solar light in the
future. Soddy said “capital is only the unearned income, divided by an
interest rate and centuplicated." [9]
Even if debt follows the law of the compound interest, the real future
income, which is commensurate with debt of lien and the real energy
produced from solar power in the future, will not increase by compound
interest in the long run. However, real wealth, when converted into debt,
“throws out its corrosive body and girds itself by what is not corrosive” [10]. In
this manner, the wealth can avoid the second law of thermodynamics, that is,
random, destruction and corrosion, leading to production for the exploiting
natural property [11]. Debt increases by a compound interest, and will not face
the limit that stops an expansion from the view point of pure mathematical
quantity. On the other hand, wealth will face the limit sooner or later after
increasing with a compound interest for a while since it has the physical
aspect. Debt can last forever, but wealth will not. The reason is that the
physical aspect of wealth follows the destructive power of entropy. The contra
account will collapse at some point. That is, some sort of relinquishment or
canceling of the debt must be taken place. The positive feedback of the
compound interest must be offset by the counteraction, such as inflation,
bankruptcy, and seizure tax, against debt relinquishment. Furthermore, all of
them would be accompanied with violence. According to common sense,
this process is considered pathological and the compounding interest is
accepted as right. However, theoretically, Soddy pointed out that we should
keep the compound manner in check somehow or accept one or some of the
counteraction mechanisms, such as canceling, as the right one.
Soddy’s viewpoint is a criticism against the way of thinking of “economy
as a permanently running machine”. The material problem of life for human
beings is energy, just like a hot steam locomotive. Until 19th century,
humans depended on the production of energy (solar light captured by plant
which is “a primary capitalist”) for life. At present, humans augment the
energy production by consuming energy capital (such as coal that is “the
stored solar light in the summer time of Paleozoic Era”). To reduce labor,
humans can supply internal fires, depending only on new solar light, as long
as he can use a fuel-supplying machine. Instead, the new solar light can be
converted with the help of the plants. Thus, life depends on the continuous
flow of energy. Therefore, to obtain daily necessities, we need, not only
stock, but rather flow of nature. The main part of the daily necessities should
be supplied as the circulating flow or profit. That is never converted into
stock in any physical sense, nor is it stored for utility for the next generations
[12]
The capital stock will be a help and aid to further our capacity to obtain
the production of energy until the limit maintained against the destruction of
entropy. However, the production itself is not multiplied proliferously,
meaningfully, nor is it stored more than limited. Certainly, to maintain the
accumulated stock of our material wealth, the recuperative power of the
“production” flow of low entropy is necessary against destruction of entropy.
To be more accurate, nature has the energy stored in coal. The energy has
gone through several eras geologically. We only convert it into the non
stored-form. In addition, we, following Soddy, can grip this “era of fire” when
we exhaust the capital stock, coal, just as we are “passing beyond this phase”
and understand exactly that a binding of the energy production imposed on
living things will be clear, afterward[13].
The basic problem of economy for Soddy is “how human beings should
live.” His answer was “by solar light.” The laws, that human beings should
follow to live by depending on the solar light, immediately, or using one from
the ancient eras are the first and second principle of thermodynamics. In
short, this is [the question of] “relationship of physics to an international
stewardship.” According to Soddy, wealth is “a way of human utilization of
raw materials and energy”. Wealth has bilateral phases: one is a material
phase, which is the material-energy following the laws of mechanistic theory
of inanimate world: the other one is a useful and teleological phase, which
follows an objective imposed by spirituality and humans’ will. Soddy’s concept
of wealth is Soddy-specific dualistic theory. Briefly, the intermediate area
between livelihood and wealth depends on an interaction of the ultimate world
of materials and spirituality in a phase of “from day to day”.

３．Monetary Reform and the Financial Policies

Our discussion focuses on the Soddy’s view which later developed into
the warnings against “the fictional system” of the social wealth as a Debt,
comparing to J.M.Keynes’s positive introducing of his theory over creating
effective demand, related to the multiple effects, and the controlled currency
system. Soddy proposed a road map of reform to bring peace and economic
freedom to the world on the age of science and mechanization.[14]
The basis of his thought is the ”multiplied constitution by the types of
wealth, which are the real wealth by the material flow and the virtual wealth
produced by the fictional credit economy,” as we see below.
His concepts based on the law of conservation of mass (matter and
energy) led him to take an action claiming that the virtual wealth was missing
as long as the fictional credit economic part functioned away from its material
constraint. [15]
Who’s view as a concerning the sustainability (environmental problems)
is on going off “the gold standard”? Who argued the way of “key currency
under economic control“ by the managed currency system in 1920 s’ to 30s’?
Is he Keynes, Soddy, or S. Gesell ? As B.A. Rieter, a propounder of the
regional currency and the proposal of “EU” in the European economic region,
has already pointed it out that what they thought was to set a new key
currency after abolishing the gold standard, compensate the nation’s
purchasing power by assuring the money circulation and put the economy on
the sustainable path as opposed to the reduction of production and shortage
of foods (poverty).
 [Figure］ Existing Wealth and “Virtual Wealth” due to Credit Economy
Cf. Soddy, Vi,rtual Wealth,Fig.1 The Principle of Virtual Wealth

Back to that time, France and England had War Debts to the USA and
reparations of Germany, which was on economic depression, was reduced.
The world economy recovered temporarily by the afflux of the private capital
from the USA (“Dors Bond”). In 1924 Germany reverted to the gold standard
of the new parity, and England in 1925. It can be also noted that issuing the
war debt, proposed by T. Johnson (a member of the Labor Party), who was
sent to the all-nation cabinet of Lloyd-George from the Labor Party and
showed complete support for the policy, was influenced by Soddy’s Virtual
Wealth.
Then, in 1929, the second Labor government of MacDonald was
organized with the cooperation of Freedom Party. With a serious problem
of unemployment due to the world depression, social perplexity arose over
pros and cons of cutback of unemployment benefits and responses for the
shrinking market economy. In order to overcome these problems, attentions
were focused on the nationalization of the central bank and the financial
reform. Soddy advocated that the gold standard, which was the criterion of
the monetary value, should be abolished and replaced by a key currency by
“the index number,” indicating the needs of daily necessities and living
expenses of laborers‘ households. Gesell, an advocator of the currency
reformer, insisted “the currency to be applied for matching the value change
in the standard basket of the primary commodity” on the key currency. Then,
Keynes established “Vancore exchange accounts” with the permission of the
central bank, propound measures not to withdraw the purchasing power from
the circulation market by the same effects as import of gold, and thought there
was a solution for unemployment in “investing the government capitals”
(public works expenditure), namely, issuing the government bonds. It is not
clear whether Keynes knew Soddy, but Gesell and Soddy got involved in
Social Credit Movement from 1924 to 1938. Furthermore, Keynes highly
appreciated the significance of Gesell’s proposal. By the way, in England
complete abolishment of the gold standard in 1931 and the managed
currency system of the national credit currency by the central bank were
institutionalized after Keynes assumed the England Bank’s Trustee.
 We can see the Soddy’s financial (currency) reform in the “22
conclusions (proposals) of the financial reform,” summarized in the reference
[16].
Followings are main points.

・ The production of Wealth, as distinct from Debt, obeys the physical laws of
conservation and the exact reasoning of the physical sciences can be
applied. Wealth cannot be produced without expenditure.
・ Capital, by saving to an indefinite extent the expenditure of human time in
production, appears to afford a continuous revenue of wealth without
further work, but the origin of wealth produced is in the continued use of
capital by human agents, not in the capital itself.
・ Money’s value or purchasing power is not directly determined by any
positive or existing quantity of wealth, but by the negative quantity, or
deficit of wealth. The aggregate of this deficit is called the Virtual Wealth of
the community and this virtual wealth does not obey the laws of
conservation, but is of psychological origin.
・ When the quantity of money is constant, its value or purchasing power is
proportional to the Virtual Wealth. The issue of money should be regulated
by its purchasing power, so as to maintain the purchasing power constant.
・ To initiate the system some 20 billion pounds of National interest-bearing
Debt should be cancelled and same sum of national money (non-interest-
bearing National Debt) issued to replace the credit created by the banks.
The taxpayer would thereby be relieved of the payment of 100 millions
pounds a year interest on purely fictitious loans.
・ Taxation, as hitherto confined to the purpose of defraying Government
expenditure, is entirely futile as an instrument of permanent social
amelioration, and should be used in conjunction with the issue of
Government loans, for other specific purpose.
・ The national reserve of gold, acting as a barometer indicating the ratio of
imports to exports, should be maintained by suitable means. It is
suggested that on information supplied by the national statistical authority.
・ It is claimed that these suggested reforms are necessary steps if an
individualistic society is to continue and the nation in the future is to be in a
position to deal with a further displacement of men by machinery and the
methods of mass production.

Soddy, as it has been explained above, tried to be an innovative

economist and wanted the whole world to enjoy the works of science through
the financial reform and so he got involved in various activities of the Labor
Party and social circles.
From around 1928, he got disappointed with depoliticization of the
organization of scientist and the policy of the Labor Party to maintain the
status quo. He started working with the New Europe Group, whose aim was
to establish a new peaceful society by combining of the financial reform and
the Europe union till 1950’s.[17]

４．Conclusion
 From above consideration, we’ll advocate that Soddy’s economics is a
forerunner of modern environmental and ecological economics and has a
profound substantial content for us. We should to learn more hints to
construct the sustainable economics for the coming next generations.

Reference
[1] Takeshi Murota [1979], Economics of Entropy and Energy, Toyo Keizai (in Japanese)
Hideaki Kudo[1991],Ecology Economics by Juan Martinez-Alier,Klaus Shlupman[1987], HBJ Publish(in
Japanese)
[2] Kenji Katsuragi[1985],About the valuation of Fredrick Soddy by Herman E. Daly,Record of the conference
of Environment and Entropy in Toyama,The Society for Studies on Entropy(in Japanese)
[3] Masatoshi Nakayama [1985],About Fredrick Soddy, Sciences, Society and Human Being,No.11
[4] F. Soddy [1922], Cartesian Economics: The Bearing of Physical Science upon State Stewardship, London,
[5] J.M. Keynes [1936], The General Theory of Employment, Interest and money, Macmillan and Co. Limited
[6] Kenji Katsuragi [1986]The Capital as Debt, Kiyo 19-1,Liberal Arts, Toyama univ. (in Japanese)
[7] Donella Meadows et al[2004],Limits to Growth:The 30-Year Update,,Earthcsan(Translated by Junko
Edahiro[2005],Diamond Publisher
Nicholas Georgesou-Reogen[1971],The Entropy Law and the Economic Process, Cambridge,Mass.
[8] F. Soddy [1926], Wealth, Virtual Wealth and Debt: The Solution of The Economic Paradox, London, p.69
[9] F.Soddy, Cartesian Economics: The Bearing of Physical Science upon State Stewardship, London,
p.27
[10 F. Soddy [1934],The Role of Money, London, p.28
[11] F. Soddy , ibid.,p.24
[12] F. Soddy, Book of Exodus,” p.16, 17-20
[13] F. Soddy [1943], The Arch Enemy of Economic Freedom, Oxford,p.6
[14] Keynes, ibid.,
[15] F. Soddy [1922], Cartesian Economics
[16] F. Soddy [1926], Wealth,
[17] Linda Merricks [1996],The World Made New: Fredrick Soddy, Science, Politics, and Environment,
Oxford.,
Frank H. Night [1927],”Review of Wealth, Virtual Wealth and Debt”, in Saturday Review of Literature, 16
April