In Folding the World, Professor Anders Levermann confronts the defining issue of our time: how humanity can thrive on a planet with finite resources. Drawing on his background in theoretical physics and his work at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Levermann proposes a groundbreaking economic framework for sustainable development, founded on the mathematical concept of “folding”.
As the age of expansion draws to a close, our need for rapid societal development is colliding with the physical limitations of Earth. Accepting the harsh reality of this situation, we face a dilemma. The desperate call for renunciation and recession, while understandable, is counterproductive; it does not solve our dilemma. The mathematical principle of folding offers an alternative: the possibility of infinite motion within a finite world — not growth into more, but growth into different. This principle is not confined to the realm of theory — it translates into actionable strategies, from carbon trading to corporate taxation, representing a tangible
solution that could help chart the course for our shared future.

Content
1. The Growth Dilemma

2. The Principle of Self-Amplification

2.1 The Principle
2.2 Scales and Limits
2.3 Demarcation and Cluster Formation
2.4 Limits we cannot ignore

3. The Folding Limit of Climate

3.1 Ice Ages and Warm Stages
3.2 Radiative Balance and Greenhouse Effect
3.3 Tipping Points and Abrupt Transitions
3.4 What’s not awaiting us
3.5 What’s awaiting us
3.6 The Jetstream Concern
3.7 The Freedom of Our Children
3.8 The Climate Limit is Zero

4. The Direction of Progress

4.1 The Good Thing about Economic Growth
4.2 Ways to Limit Self-Amplification

5. The Concept of Folding

5.1 The mathematical Idea of Folding
5.2 Security Through Chaos
5.3 Folding Limits
5.4 Folding as an Adaptation of the Value System
5.5 Folding Limits as Societal Visions
5.6 The best Search Engine in the World
5.7 The Solution to the Dilemma
5.8 Folding as an Economic Principle and Raison d’État

6. Folding Production:
Limits & Innovation

6.1 The Climate Limit: No More Fossil Carbon
6.2 Carbon Dioxide Needs a Limit and a Price
6.3 Folding Instead of Forgoing
6.4 The Solution to the Sustainability Problem

7. Folding the Economy:
Competition & Diversification

7.1 Too Big to Fail
7.2 Limits as Part of the System
7.3 Growth into Economic Diversity
7.4 The Path to a Diversity Economy

8. Folding Society:
Incentive & Cohesion

8.1 Property Pyramid and Tower of Power
8.2 Self-Amplification of the Real-Estate Market
8.3 Exploding Assets Jeopardize Society
8.4 Limiting Asset Explosion Through Inheritance
8.5 The Commensurability of Income
8.6 Another Limit for Limit Lovers: Ultra-Fast-Trading
8.7 The Folding Society

9. The Path to Accord

9.1 Arguments for Capitalists
9.2 Arguments for Communists
9.3 Arguments for Sustainability
9.4 Arguments for Pragmatists
9.5 What We Can Agree on