Scaling and Efficiency in Living Economic Systems — Economic Systems as Living Systems examination

Eleven questions. Nine of eleven passes, and you can take it again as often as you like.

Which changes does Bartholomew suggest for Bread & Butter Bliss?

An outside agency, a new café and a franchise plan Automated proofing, a dough mixer and digital invoicing Cheaper flour, smaller loaves and longer working hours A shorter menu, higher prices and closing at weekends, without addressing what is actually driving the pattern
What happens once the bakery doubles its output with half the effort?

A glut of unsold loaves drives the prices sharply down Quality slips and long-standing customers drift away Regulars resent the changes and stop coming in Demand grows further as word spreads to nearby towns
What dilemma does Beatrice face as the bakery grows?

How to scale without losing the quality that made it famous Whether to return to hand kneading so growth slows down, as it is commonly taught elsewhere How to cut her prices to match supermarket bread How to reduce demand now that her output has doubled
In the forest analogy for an economy, what plays the role of fungi?

Businesses, competing with one another for attention Infrastructure that recycles resources and eases transactions Consumers, choosing where and what they will graze on, as conventional wisdom often suggests Sunlight, supplying the energy that every firm depends on
In the worked example, 100 consumers grow with r = 0.2 and K = 500. How many are there after one year?

116 consumers 136 consumers 120 consumers 100 consumers, without addressing what is actually driving the pattern
What role does the term (1 − X/K) play in the logistic equation?

A fixed cost that stays the same at every size An accelerator that speeds growth as numbers rise The intrinsic growth rate under ideal conditions A brake that slows growth near carrying capacity
What do the linked rabbit and grass equations demonstrate?

Two separate growth curves that never interact at all One population responding to its predators and nothing else A feedback loop in which each population shapes the other Exponential growth with no limiting factor of any kind
SunSpark floats 1 million shares at $20, and good news lifts the price to $24. What is its market capitalisation now?

$20 million, as a short-term fix rather than a lasting change $44 million $24 million $4 million
How does the module describe the market price of SunSpark's shares?

As a figure fixed in advance by the company's board As an emergent result of many investors' decisions As a value set only by the firm's production costs As a number chosen by regulators at the listing
What does the protocol step "diversify your species" ask you to do?

Spread investments across asset classes, like a diverse ecosystem Invest only in companies that work with living organisms Change investments every week to chase the latest market, provided nothing else changes in the meantime Concentrate capital in the single best-performing asset
What does the protocol mean by "embrace emergence" in financial decisions?

Forecast every outcome exactly before making any decision at all Hand all financial decisions to others so as to avoid responsibility Avoid any investment whose result cannot be known in advance, at least according to popular belief Build a resilient, adaptable system rather than chase precise forecasts