Representation of national and regional political units in a computerized world future model

Abstract

Recent, highly-publicized computerized world future models developed by Jay W. Forrester and by Donella H. Meadows and others have formed the basis for suggested policies that would require major changes in international and national legal rules. These models make no attempt, however, to incorporate the existing world legal structure.The author has rewritten one of these models, that by Forrester, to incorporate variables representing legal controls of international movement of population, natural resources, food, and pollution. Results from computer runs with this revised model suggest that a wide range of national policies on such questions as population growth, economic growth, and national resource usage may be compatible with world equilibrium.Appendices to the paper present FORTRAN computer programs for both the original model and the author's extended model.