Thinking in Systems: A Primer (2008), Appendix (summary)
“Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.”
Attributed to Kenneth Boulding in: United States. Congress. House (1973) Energy reorganization act of 1973: Hearings, Ninety-third Congress, first session, on H.R. 11510. p. 248
1970s
Variant: Anyone who believes in indefinite growth in anything physical, on a physically finite planet, is either mad or an economist.
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Kenneth E. Boulding 163
British-American economist 1910–1993Related quotes
Tragedy of the Commons, 1968.
Tragedy of the Commons (1968)

“Oh yes! The one man in the world who never believes he's mad is the madman.”
In answer to the question as to whether he ever thought he might be quite mad. Granada Television documentary on Scientology http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_w-YWwC1lI#t=1503.

Robert Costanza in: " What is Ecological economics http://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/what-ecological-economics," at Yale Insights, May 2010.

Kunnumpuram, Kurien, 2011 “Theological Exploration,” Jnanadeepa: Pune Journal of Religious Studies 14/2 (July-Dec 2011)
On God

“Thus the so-called Moore's law is incorrect, since it implies only an exponential growth.”
Source: Why Stock Markets Crash - Critical Events in Complex Systems (2003), Chapter 10, 2050: The End Of The Growth Era?, p. 379.
Context: Faster-than-exponential growth also occurs in computing power, as measured by the evolution of the number of MIPS per $1,000 of computer from 1900 to 1997. Thus the so-called Moore's law is incorrect, since it implies only an exponential growth. This faster than exponential acceleration has been argued to lead to a transition to a new era, around 2030, corresponding to the epoch when we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence.

“Only a faster-than-exponential stock market growth makes private investors feel richer.”
Source: Why Stock Markets Crash - Critical Events in Complex Systems (2003), Chapter 10, 2050: The End Of The Growth Era?, p. 375
Context: In order to have a continuing influence, the stock market has to continue rising at an accelerating pace faster than exponential. Only a faster-than-exponential stock market growth makes private investors feel richer.
Part 1, Chapter 3, Economic History, p. 43
Economics For Everyone (2008)
Source: The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth