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Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish writer and philosopher, called economics the dismal science because population would eventually out-grow food supply. I would call economics the dismal science, not because food supply may disappear, but because a growing economy will always be accompanied by new problems that economists can rarely foresee, let alone solve them. Consider globalization.
In a global economy, many corporations produce components of final products in many different countries outside the country where their headquarters are located. Profits of these corporations do not even return to the country of incorporation to avoid tax liability.
According to page 26 of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Annual Report 2006, globalization is the "Best of All Worlds" by generatingsuch benefits as: lower communication & transportation costs; access to lower cost inputs through outsourcing; stronger competition; greater specialization due to competition; larger size market that leads to innovation; extended economies of scale that spread fixed costs to more customers; broader capital markets; and more. When there are benefits, however, there are bound to be costs.
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