The first of a series of annual reports for policy makers, this publication focuses on evaluating changes in the interplay between the world's changing resource base and the economic system. Following an overview, content is divided into 10 additional chapters covering population stabilization, the world's dependence on oil, soil conservation, forest protection, materials recycling, the economics of nuclear power, the development of renewable energy, the future of the automobile, the world food supply, and economic policy formulation. Each chapter is edited by a specialist in the field and contains several articles by different authors. Examples of subtopics considered within each chapter are: zero population growth and national fertility declines (population stabilization); petroleum substitutes and government regulations (oil dependence); acid rain and deforestation (forest conservation); waste paper, aluminum, iron, and steel (recycling efforts); wind, solar, and geothermal energy (renewable energy); and national priorities and "guns or butter" (economic policy formulation). A list of tables and figures, footnotes, and an index are included. (LP)