The second edition of this user-friendly book provides a clear and original introduction to the theory of economic growth. The book has been fully updated to incorporate several important new results and proofs, and offers a new solution to the fundamental question: how much should a nation save and invest?
In the second edition of this user-friendly book, Olivier de La Grandville provides graduate students and academic researchers with a clear and original introduction to the theory of economic growth, its mechanisms and its challenges. The book has been fully updated to incorporate several important new results and proofs since the first edition, and offers a new solution to the fundamental question: how much should a nation save and invest? In addition to a progressive treatment of dynamic optimization, readers will find intuitive derivations of all central equations of the calculus of variations and of optimal control theory. Contrary to dire contemporary predictions, de La Grandville shows that the optimal savings rule not only corresponds to the maximization of future welfare flows for society, but also maximizes the value of society's activity, as well as the total remuneration of labor.