The possibility of continuous growth with exhaustible resources: Unknowingly an agreement has been reached, but it may not be correct

It is the size of the elasticity of substitution that has been the central issue in the long debate over the possibility of continuous growth in the presence of exhaustible resources. This paper reviews the debate and comes to the surprising conclusion that, unnoticed by pessimists, the optimist position has gradually evolved so that it now approximates that of the pessimists. The paper also summarizes some preliminary work by the author that indicates that this common position may not be correct. © 2003 Rocky Mountain Mathematics Consortium.