Excellent discussion. My old friend Nick (Georgescu-Roegen), pointed out this issue long ago. However, like so many we spent half a century beating our heads against the stone wall of an impenetrable cult (no more scientific than Scientology) of mainstream economics (now Neofeudal) with little effect. They would claim "we are merely describing the system as it is" (while pandering to plutocrats in perpetuity and taking over the policy and judicial systems). We need to focus on their most mythological mechanisms (money and banking) and put the eco (affairs of the household) back in economics. We should pursue ecological economics (based in the science of complex adaptive systems). Note: http://www.paecon.net/PAEReview/issue102/Daneke102.pdf