# Is indefinite exponential economic growth possible?

Economic growth is frequently expressed as a % of GDP. Proponents of a steady-state economy postulate that perpetual exponential economic growth is impossible and that any system relying on it is inherently unstable. Is this true?

Is indefinite exponential economic growth possible?

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The answer, of course, is yes in some models and no in others. If you're asking for a survey of the growth literature, this question is too broad. Otherwise, it should be about a specific model or class of models. –  Steven Landsburg Dec 4 '14 at 21:03
@StevenLandsburg - what about real life, instead of models which can be constructed either way? –  Deer Hunter Dec 5 '14 at 0:49
@DeerHunter: In real life, the Universe will pretty much die out in another $10^{15}$ years or so, so the answer is no, you can't have exponential growth "forever". If you want to ask a sensible question about this, it needs to be in the context of a model. –  Steven Landsburg Dec 5 '14 at 1:10