The Economics of Demand-led Growth

Book excerpt: Economists from Europe, North America, and Australia challenge the notions that demand has only a transitory impact on the utilization of resources; and that the development of resources, and hence of potential output, over time is independent of demand. They argue instead that the role of demand in influencing the utilization of productive resources is chronic, and that there is no supply- determined equilibrium acting as a center of gravity toward which the level of economic activity is inevitably and inexorably drawn. The natural rate of growth, they conclude, is ultimately endogenous to the demand-determined actual rate of growth. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR