Econo-Thermodynamics?

I have often compared economies to thermodynamically ideal engines in order to explain, by analogy, lost efficiency of the economy due to government taxation and waste, but this article goes much further and actually defines economies in thermodynamic terms.  In doing so, the authors of the study make the case that economies are inherently unpredictable, similar to the point mathematicians make when describing economies as chaos systems.  In other words, pursuing the perfect planned economy is as fruitless as trying to invent a perpetual motion machine.  Both are physical impossibilities.

Second Law of Thermodynamics May Explain Economic Evolution

(PhysOrg.com) — Terms such as the “invisible hand,” laissez-faire policy, and free-market principles suggest that economic growth and decline in capitalist societies seem to be somehow self-regulated. Now, scientists Arto Annila of the University of Helsinki and Stanley Salthe of Binghampton University in New York show that economic activity can be regarded as an evolutionary process governed by the second law of thermodynamics. Their perspective may provide insight into some fundamental economic questions, such as the causes of economic growth and diversification, as well as why it’s so difficult to predict economic growth and decline… read full article