ABSTRACT
Textbooks don't usually prepare one for the emphasis on the desirability of growth found in almost any community and often taken as a proper object of national economic policy. It is easy to see why many businesses want growth: It means an enlargement of their markets even if it is only growth of population. That at least keeps sales of diapers first and everything that follows later at a steady or rising level. If in addition there is growth in per-capita income, sales of almost everything increases further. It creates jobs and it keeps tax receipts rising for governments. If the rise is in per-capita incomes, it makes it possible for real incomes of many to rise, and hence mutes possible conflict over income distribution.
