The Optimal Depletion of Exhaustible Resources 1 , 2

0.1. In any given economy there must be a number of commodities that enter into production and which are used up, and whose available stock cannot be increased. Examples like fossil fuels come readily to mind. It would seem reasonable to argue that in the long run the limited availability of these commodities, together with their technological importance, would begin to act as a constraint on the economy's growth potential. In fact several recent studies have laid great emphasis on this possibility. ³ Although the point is an obvious one, most economic studies of the properties of long-run plans neglect it. ⁴ In this paper, therefore, we explore in a rather preliminary way the problems that appear to arise naturally when the existence of exhaustible resources is incorporated into the study of intertemporal plans.