4 ms·
Doesn't all growth have an exponent?
by tosseraccount 11y ago
Doesn't all growth have an exponent?
- jdmichal 11y agoYour comment was meant to be witty, but is actually just uninformed. Exponential growth is a well-defined mathematical concept [0] and distinct from other formulas of growth. And, to specifically address your comment, the exponent in exponential growth is time, so no you cannot just dismiss it as being "some exponent". [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_growth#Basic_formula https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_growth#Basic_formu...
- tosseraccount 11y agoPhysics is not financial economics.
- jdmichal 11y agoI truly do not understand your argument. First, nothing in my comment alludes to physics, except for maybe the involvement of time, which I can assure you is very much a concept in financial economics. Second, financial economics is in no way unfamiliar with exponential growth. For instance, the compounding interest formula: p-next = p-start * (1 - rate) ^ time
- tosseraccount 11y agoI'm not sure I get yours. Are you saying there is "nonexponential growth" ?
- jdmichal 11y agoOf course there is non-exponential growth. Easiest counter-example is linear growth, or perhaps in the real world a steady paycheck: p-next = p-start + growth-amount * t
- tosseraccount 11y agoA steady paycheck is wage growth? Indeed, I am missing something.
- oscilloscope 11y agoThe formula implies constant wage, not wage growth. But it can model growth in savings. An example: I save $200 per week. I have $800 saved already. How much will I have saved in 3 weeks?
- jdmichal 11y agoOf course not; it's wealth growth. To be fully explicit: wealth-next = wealth-now + wages * time I am starting to think that you are being purposefully obtuse.
- phaemon 11y agoI think you mean "(1 + rate)"...
- jdmichal 11y agoYes, of course. Thanks for the correction. Looks like it's too late for me to edit the original.
- joeyspn 11y agoNo, and in most cases where it has it, it shouldn't... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-QA2rkpBSY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-QA2rkpBSY
- aidenn0 11y agoNo, there is polynomial growth, for example. [edit] Here's an example: If you have a theoretical country that uses an average of 1MW of electricity, and it grows by 5% per year, that's exponential growth. If its usage grows by 50kW per year, then that would be linear growth (one type of polynomial growth). Note that in the first year of this, they both grow by 50kW of usage, but they rapidly diverge: The difference is that 70 years later, the former will be require about 29MW while the latter will require about 4.5MW