System Dynamics | LowGrow SFC

A simulation model of the Canadian economy

LowGrow SFC is a system dynamics model developed by Tim Jackson and Peter Victor, incorporating many features developed over several years. LowGrow SFC brings together: 1) the environmental and resource constraints on economic activity; 2) a full account of production, consumption, employment and public finances in the ‘real economy’ at the level of the nation state; 3) a comprehensive account of the financial economy, including the main interactions between financial agents.

LowGrow SFC is ‘stock-flow consistent’. this means that expenditures by each sector are incomes of other sectors and financial assets of each sector are financial liabilities of other sectors, and vice versa. The 6 sectors in LowGrow SFC are: households, non-financial firms, financial firms, the central bank, government, and the rest of the world. Interactions within and between these spheres of interest are modelled using a system dynamics framework and used to generate scenarios for Canada.

Run LowGrow SFC

Interested readers can explore the implications for themselves in the online beta version of LowGrow SFC.

LowGrow SFC is part of a suite of system dynamics models developed by Tim Jackson and Peter Victor, including SIGMA, which addresses the key challenge of inequality in the context of declining growth rates; and FALSTAFF, which explores the financial and economic dimensions of a post-growth economy.