The Implications of Demographic Change for Economic Growth

Abstract

The importance of mankind both as the ultimate arbiter of economic relationships and as the single most important economic resource embues demographic change with great moment for the pattern and pace of future economic growth. However, demographic change occurs so slowly that its implications are frequently ignored. The horizon of practical policy planning rarely extends far enough into the future to allow demographic considerations any real role. Moreover, the corpus of modern economic doctrine stresses short- and medium-term issues at the expense of the longer-term ones that were the stuff and substance of classical economics. The aim of this paper is to go a small way towards redressing the balance.