economy. If such a total penetration of the market economy were left unchecked by any restrictions, its negative effects may be more acutely felt globally, that is to say, those inconsistencies such as the instability of the supply and demand market, increasing the gap between rich and poor, more environmental damage, etc.
It should be the main theme for mankind as we approach the 21st century, to establish how to contain and control these negative factors, while still retaining the principle of a liberal market economy.
6. Heeding the Pessimistic Warnings
The development of new agricultural production technology requires at least ten years, as not only the breed or species must be improved, but the cultivation technology must be put in place. Furthermore, a long term period of several decades accumulated experience is necessary to establish the technology needed, including locally adapted technology, in the process of its popularization. In that sense, as long as it is in the diffusion process of technology, as was shown by the way the green revolution developed and accumulated under the cold war conditions, there would be no major concern about global food supply and demand within the next decade or so, due to the current inertia of the system. But we cannot consider the food balance as a matter for only the next decade or so, as is directly indicated by the fact that the development of cultivated areas, which are the basis for agricultural production, is only the accumulation of strenuous efforts by mankind over many hundreds of generations. If we showed no concern for our present situation, and neglected our responsibilities of investing in the long term future, some kind of woe is sure to befall us and our off-spring in the next two or three decades. It would then take further decades before any counter-measures could be put in place, assuming they were possible in the confusion of the time.
The super long term prospects for 2030, as predicted by Mr. Lester Brown and others, should be taken as a warning of the above to mankind. His analysis
