Over the years, however, as the world economy continued to grow without interruption – and, in the current age of globalization, seemingly without limits – the dire predictions of the Club of Rome have become increasingly an object of ridicule. And yet the Club of Rome’s basic insight – that we live and work in a finite global ecosystem, with exhaustible resources and capacities – has returned to challenge us again.
西方已经建立了二十一世纪的经济模式，其生活水准前所未闻，而且几乎所有国家和地区都在不计代价试图追赶。二十世纪七十年代之际，罗马俱乐部发布其著名的“发展局限”报告，人们对其的反应是忧心忡忡。但是，多年以来，世界经济继续不停顿地增长，而在当前全球化的时代看似不可限量。罗马俱乐部悲观的预计已经越发成为笑柄。但是，罗马俱乐部的基本洞察，也就是我们生活在一个容量有限的全球生态体系之中，资源以及能力总会耗尽，却再一次返回过来对我们提出挑战。