Optimal Economic Growth And Non Stable Population

This book studies optimal economic growth in a closed economy which experiences non-stable population growth. The economy is described by means of a neoclassical growth model which distinguishes overlapping generations within the population. The basic neoclassical growth model is extended to include various types of technical change, as well as investment in human capital or education. The research described in this book connects the analytical tools of traditional growth theory with the actual demographic experience of most industrialized countries. The role of demographic processes in the growth theoretical literature is discussed in the next section. The discussion will show that growth theory needs to extend its scope through the construction of growth models which explicitly recognize demographic forces as a potential source of non-stationarities. This book constitutes a first attempt at such a demographic extension. 1.1 Growth theory and demographic change The theory of economic growth (e.g. Solow, 1970; Burmeister & Dobell, 1970; Wan, 1971) attempts to describe and to explain the long-run development of an economic system (or, in short, economy). An economic system is essentially dynamic in nature. Among the most important sources of dynamics in economics are the following: accumulation of capital (investment); technical change; population growth. Some of these dynamic forces are, at least in part, endogenous to the economic system (i.e. determined by economic variables).

What can prosperity possibly mean in a world of environmental and social limits? The publication of Prosperity without Growth was a landmark in the sustainability debate. Tim Jackson’s piercing challenge to conventional economics openly questioned the most highly prized goal of politicians and economists alike: the continued pursuit of exponential economic growth. Its findings provoked controversy, inspired debate and led to a new wave of research building on its arguments and conclusions. This substantially revised and re-written edition updates those arguments and considerably expands upon them. Jackson demonstrates that building a ‘post-growth’ economy is a precise, definable and meaningful task. Starting from clear first principles, he sets out the dimensions of that task: the nature of enterprise; the quality of our working lives; the structure of investment; and the role of the money supply. He shows how the economy of tomorrow may be transformed in ways that protect employment, facilitate social investment, reduce inequality and deliver both ecological and financial stability. Seven years after it was first published, Prosperity without Growth is no longer a radical narrative whispered by a marginal fringe, but an essential vision of social progress in a post-crisis world. Fulfilling that vision is simply the most urgent task of our times.

Serious research into the causes and implications of an aging population is a relatively recent phenomenon. Though several relevant issues of aging havereceived considerable attention in public and political discussions (especially in European countries and in Japan), the economics profession is somewhat lacking behind. This is particularly true for thetheoretical underpinnings of the economics of population aging. Until now, the aging-debate is primarily led by institutionalists. The present book with its analytical and econometric studies on fiscal implications of population aging is an important step in the process of theoretical analysis of aging. It is of interest both for population economists (and demographers) and for public economists - providing a bridge between these areas of research.

Economic Policy in a Demographically Divided World contains the economic analysis of the consequences of demographic change and the diverging population developments in an interdependent world economy in particular. The global divergence in demographic developments gives rise to a myriadof economic and ethical problems. This topic is treated with the help of themathematical apparatus of neoclassical optimal growth models. The author tries to disentangle the basic policy issues of a demographically divided world, such as a selective immigration policy, sustainable patterns of international lending and borrowing, development aid, and dynamic optimal taxation. The most important feature of the book is that it brings together information and theories of fairly recent date to analyse a practical policy problem, viz. issues related to a world economy that is characterised by a demographic division. This stylised fact is hardly given some attention in current economic theory and the book contains with respect to this stylised fact some new results. Customers might benefit from the book by gaining intuition concerning principles of economic policy in a world characterised by demographic change.