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The Ultimate Resource
A lively answer to those who sound alarms about population growth and resource use
The Ultimate Resource challenges conventional beliefs about the scarcity of energy and natural resources, the pollution of the environment, and the perils of overpopulation for our standard of living. In this provocative book, Julian Lincoln Simon argues that natural resources are not finite in any meaningful way, and that using such resources now will not slow the rate of future economic growth. In the short run, all resources are limited. A greater use of any resource means pressure on its supply and hence an increased price. In the long run, however, history shows that human creativity overcomes natural obstacles to economic growth and leads to a lower cost and price than before. The ultimate resource, Simon contends, is the human imagination coupled to the human spirit.
This timely book will fundamentally change how you think about a host of issues, from immigration and human fertility to forecasts of population change and the use of taxpayer dollars for population control. The Ultimate Resource demonstrates that the primary constraint on our national and world economic growth is our capacity for the creation of new ideas. The more people who can be trained to help solve the problems that confront us, the faster we might remove the obstacles, and the greater the economic inheritance we can bequeath to our descendants.
The Ultimate Resource challenges conventional beliefs about the scarcity of energy and natural resources, the pollution of the environment, and the perils of overpopulation for our standard of living. In this provocative book, Julian Lincoln Simon argues that natural resources are not finite in any meaningful way, and that using such resources now will not slow the rate of future economic growth. In the short run, all resources are limited. A greater use of any resource means pressure on its supply and hence an increased price. In the long run, however, history shows that human creativity overcomes natural obstacles to economic growth and leads to a lower cost and price than before. The ultimate resource, Simon contends, is the human imagination coupled to the human spirit.
This timely book will fundamentally change how you think about a host of issues, from immigration and human fertility to forecasts of population change and the use of taxpayer dollars for population control. The Ultimate Resource demonstrates that the primary constraint on our national and world economic growth is our capacity for the creation of new ideas. The more people who can be trained to help solve the problems that confront us, the faster we might remove the obstacles, and the greater the economic inheritance we can bequeath to our descendants.
620 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1981
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 1, 2017
One of the true great contrarians of our time. Based on facts and reality rather than feelings and opinions of the vast majority of people.
September 24, 2018
An important well-documented, but tedious book. The thesis and conclusion are interesting, but the books is so carefully and fully documented with facts, that I felt I was slogging my way through a rainforest. I would prefer a more compact fly-over version.
April 7, 2025
good book, but can be summarized very easily, seemed to be repeating itself over and over again for each sub topic, i got his point by the time i got to chapter 7
but i really do appreciate this book
but i really do appreciate this book
January 16, 2021
Buen libro que entre otras cosas hecha por tierra las antigua teoría Malthusianas
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December 7, 2009Recommended by James Schall in Another Sort of Learning, Intro to Part Three, as one of Schall's Unlikely List of Books to Keep Sane By---Selected for Those to Whom Making Sense Is a Prior Consideration, but a Minority Opinion.
Recommended by James Schall in Another Sort of Learning, Chapter 15, as one of Fourteen Books on the Value and Defense of Human Life.
Recommended by James Schall in Another Sort of Learning, Chapter 15, as one of Fourteen Books on the Value and Defense of Human Life.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews