Introduction

One of the most striking aspects of the problems analysed in the foregoing chapters is the intellectual breadth and depth of the issues involved, and this makes conclusions particularly difficult to draw. One is perhaps more conscious of unsolved problems than of clearcut conclusions, and indeed one function of this chapter must be to emphasize the substantial deficiencies that still exist in our understanding. But before doing so let us take stock of some of our major conclusions.

Besides providing a guide for future strategies, this can also give valuable reassurance that problems, which seem impossibly difficult at first sight, may eventually be viewed from an angle which makes their basic structure clear and tractable. Our conclusions in this chapter are offered in this spirit of providing guidance and reassurance rather than attempting to provide categorical and simple answers to the questions we have studied.

Among the problems that have been our concern, at last two can be stated very simply: under what conditions will a market system allocate exhaustible resources in such a manner that the marginal social value of a resource is equal in all uses and constant over time, so that the benefits accruing from its use are maximized? And how should a government construct plans or conduct project evaluation exercises to achieve the same ends?