  Denote a consumption stream from the present \((t = 0)\) to infinity as \(\{C(t)\}.\) \(K(0) \gt 0\) circumscribes the economy; it is the quantity of capital that society has inherited from the past. Mathematicians would call \(K(0)\) an “initial condition.” The problem Ramsey set himself was to determine the consumption stream \(\{C(t)\}\) from 0 to infinity that DM would select if she were a Classical Utilitarian.