1971: Presidential Address: The Challenge to our System

Abstract

Since our profession came of age, we have been content to examine the structure of our business system, develop models, econometric and otherwise, and project its dynamics. But, we have always assumed that the system’s fundamental nature could be taken as a given. In our long-term projections, we have automatically presumed that the business system would essentially be free enterprise, profit-motivated and technically progressive. This assumption has led us to project continued growth in productivity in the 3 percent per year range and an economy which tended toward a noninflationary full employment level.