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简介：Whenwetrytoestimatefutureenvironmentalcostsresultingfromourcurrenteconomicactivities,weusuallycalculatethepresentvalueoftheconsequencesforourfuturegenerationsbyutilizingadiscountrateasastandardeconomicprocedure.Thepopularityofthisprocedureissolelysupportedbyitssimplicitywhichassumes:(1)aperfectfinancialmarketovereven100years,and(2)existenceofastabletimepreferencebetweentwoconsecutiveperiodsforanindividualconsumer.Anapparentdeficiencyofthisapproachisthatthepresentvalueoflifequalityoffuturegenerationsvariestoalargeextentalonganarbitrarilychosendiscountrate.Asamatteroffact,thediscountrate,whichcouldreflectthetimepreferenceas2%or5%,matterswhenwepredictcurrentstrategiesofenvironmentalprotectionforfuturegenerations.Simplyapplyingadiscountratetoevaluatethequalityofourfuturegeneration,withoutclarifyingtheactualproductionmechanismbehindthis,isalmosttothesameasignoringthefactthatallofthegoodsareproducedthroughanactualproductionprocessandthatenvironmentaldegradationreducestheefficiencyofthatprocess.Thegreatestconcernforourfuturegenerationsshouldnotbegivenbyanassumeddiscountrate,sincethediscountrateitselfisdeterminedbyfinancialmarketconditionsatcertainpointsintime.

简介：Twoopposingintellectualtraditionsandtheircontem-porarydevelopmentsregardingtherelationsamongpopulation,availableresources,andqualityoflifeasreflectedineconomicgrowtharereviewed.Whatisatissueiswhetherpopulationgrowthisdetrimentaltoorbeneficialforeconomicdevelopment.Neitheroftheextremeviewsgivesacompletepictureoftheinterplayamongpopulation,resources,andqualityoflife.Followingpreviousliteratureonthetopic,thispaperestablishesamorebalancedapproachthatconsidersthefunctionlinkingpopulationandqualityoflifenotconstantbutvariableandregardsthelimitednessofresourcesasnotabsolutebutrelativetoregionsandsocieties.Theproposedapproachismoreflexibleinbetterexplainingtherelationbetweenpopulationandeconomicgrowth.Chinaisexaminedasacaseinpointtoshedlightontheinteractionofpopulationgrowth,economicdevelopment,andavailableresources,anditsrecentpost-economicreformexperiencesshowcasetheappropriatenessofthesyntheticapproach.