Of Grandchildren and Grandparents

Abstract

The smithian stagnation problem lies in the meaning we place on ‘full complement of riches’. Predicting the content of the ‘full complement of riches’ for future societies is notoriously difficult and probably impossible more than a few years, certainly decades, ahead. Each generation changes the definition of ‘riches’. Few grandchildren, and adults unhappy with growing economies, would wish to return to the living standards and perceptions of ‘riches’ of their grandparents.