The non-monotonic nature of growth has been used to justify the claim that complex societies fail because investment in complexity provides diminishing returns,

The non-monotonic nature of growth has been used to justify the claim that complex societies fail because investment in complexity provides diminishing returns, however: http://www.amazon.com/Collapse-Complex-Societies-Studies-Archaeology/dp/052138673X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426793591&sr=1-1&keywords=collapse+of+complex+societies http://www.amazon.com/Collapse-Complex-Societies-Studies-Arc...