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Fall 2024

ISSN 0890-913X

Volume 39, Number 3

Categories: Fall 2024 | Sustainability | Economic growth

Capitalism Creates Sustainable Progress

Randall G. Holcombe, Florida State University

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Holcombe,RandallG.2024.“CapitalismCreatesSustainableProgress.”JournalofPrivateEnterprise,39(3):1–20.CapitalismCreatesSustainableProgressRandallG.HolcombeFloridaStateUniversityUnitedStatesofAmericaAbstractSustainabilitymeansthatthecurrentuseofresourcesdoesnotcompromisethewell-beingoffuturegenerations.EversinceMalthus(1798)hypothesizedthatpopulationtendstogrowfasterthanthegrowthofresourcestosupportthepopulation,peoplehaveclaimedthatcurrentresourceuseisunsustainable,sofuturegenerationswillbemateriallyworseoffthanthoseinthepresent,yetformorethantwocenturiesthishasnotbeenthecase.Thereasonisthatmarkets,andmarketprices,acttoconservescarceresources,andinmarketeconomies,entrepreneurshaveanincentivetodiscovermoreefficientwaystouseresources.Theclaimthattwenty-first-centurycapitalisteconomiesarenotsustainableisnotsupportedbytheevidence.JELCodes:O35,O43,P17Keywords:sustainability;economicprogress;climatechange;resourceconservationI.IntroductionSustainabilityisabroadconceptthathasbeendefinedinvariousways.Thispaperconsidersaneconomicsystemtobesustainableifthecurrentuseofresourcesdoesnotcompromisethewell-beingoffuturegenerations.Morethantwocenturiesago,Malthus(1798)warnedthatpopulationtendstogrowmorerapidlythanresourcestosupportthepopulation,whichmeansthatmostpeoplearecondemnedtoliveatthesubsistencelevel,andthesizeofthepopulationisconstrainedbytheavailabilityofresourcestosupportit.Similarargumentshavesincebeenmadebymanyothers,intothetwenty-firstcentury,yetformorethantwocenturiessinceMalthuswrote,thestandardoflivingofmostpeoplehascontinuedtoincreaseevenastheworld’spopulationhasincreased.Sofar,theforecastsofMalthusandhispessimisticsuccessorshavenotbeenborneoutbythefacts.WhenMalthuswrote,theworld’spopulationwasestimatedtobeaboutonebillion.By2024,ithadincreasedtomorethaneight

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Metadata [hide]

Title	Capitalism Creates Sustainable Progress
Authors/Creators:	Randall G. Holcombe, Florida State University
Year:	2024
Volume:	39
Number:	3
Pages:	1 - 20
Publisher:	The Association of Private Enterprise Education
ISSN:	0890-913X
Document Type:	Articles
Keywords:	sustainability; economic progress; climate change; resource conservation

Citation:
Holcombe, Randall G. / 2024. "Capitalism Creates Sustainable Progress." The Journal of Private Enterprise, 39(3): 1-20.