> My assertions regarding the grow or die imperatives of capitalism have
Note that there are some limits to growth:
- even if a business continues to grow, a growth rate higher
than the growth rate of the entire economy in which it
operates cannot be sustained (otherwise it would eventually
swallow the entire economy)
- products tend to have a life cycle in which they reach
maturity, saturation, etc. and have to be replaced by new
products and this has a dampening effect
- the size of the market and ability to move into new markets
are limits to growth. The widespread failure of the
conglomerate form of organization to add value as witnessed
by downsizing everywhere attests to the difficulty of
successfully expanding into unrelated areas.
- most businesses cannot continue to grow simply on retained
earnings so that continued access to the capital markets for
equity and debt financing is a prerequisite for sustained
growth. Any failure to access such capital will limit
growth.
-- Lou Kates, louk@teleride.on.ca