This volume of twelve interlocked essays in mathematical economics deals with a central problem of modern economic theory: the search for a path to an optimum level of economic growth. The meaning of the Golden Rule concept is thoroughly expounded, and certain analogues are presented to show that the fundamental notion of a "commanding" growth path is encountered even in models in which no pure and simple Golden Rule path exists. The Golden Rule concept is tested and applied to a number of theoretical formulations and then extended to several kinds of investment other than capital formation,...

A major advance toward understanding the forces that lead to inflation and unemployment, this study takes a cost-benefit approach to monetary planning. Professor Phelps views a reduction of inflation by monetary means as a social investment and argues that such an investment must be subjected to cost-benefit tests. By extending his analysis into questions of efficiency and resource allocation, he integrates the modern microeconomic theory of unemployment with the theory of optimal inflation. Another element of the analysis, the doctrine of optimum liquidity, is reassessed and found to require...

This volume focuses on developments in macroeconomic theory since the late 1960s. The author presents recent articles and papers in both the Keynesian and monetarist tradition as well as work by adherents to new classical, neo-classical and supply side economics.