10.4 Are There Limits to Growth?

Question 1

What two limits to economic growth do we discuss in this section?

Answer 1

We now discuss the two issues of resource exhaustion and environmental degradation.

Question 2

What affect does technology have on the limits to economic growth?

Answer 2

Technology is constantly advancing, and many things that seemed impossible a generation ago will be commonplace a generation from now. Such technological advance makes any absolute limits to economic growth less likely.

Question 3

What makes conscious management of polution so much more nessesary in present day?

Answer 3

Conscious management of pollution was unnecessary when the world’s population was 1 billion people, but such management has now become a pressing matter.

Question 4

What is key to raising living standards in developing nations?

Answer 4

Without ongoing technological change, world living standards could not be raised to those currently existing in the developed nations.

Question 5

What does rising population and rising real income place pressure on?

Answer 5

Rising population and rising real incomes place pressure on resources. Technological improvements, however, lead to less resource use per unit of output produced and also to the discovery and development of new resources.