Endless Complexity

Abstract

Economic growth with income and wealth distribution is a complex topic. It can be examined from many perspectives. The growth theory developed in this book addresses some important aspects of economic growth with income and wealth distribution, mainly under perfect competition, but neglects many others. For instance, population, resources and environment are essential determinants of economic growth. We almost omit them on purpose because a proper treatment of these factors would greatly lengthen the book. From the economic structural point of view, our theoretical framework includes some well-established economic systems such as the Arrow-Debreu equilibrium model, the Solow model, the Uzawa two-sector model, the Kaldor-Pasinetti two-group model, the Arrow learning-by-doing model, the Ricardian model by Pasinetti and Samuel son, and the Oniki-Uzawa trade model, as special cases. We can now treat different ideas in growth theory within a single theoretical framework. The usefulness of our framework lies not only in that it unifies some theories, but also in that it can explain, in a compact way, many economic phenomena which cannot be explained by the traditional theories.