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The article reports that in the history of important societies or nations, the attainment of a condition of economic stability has typically been followed by decline or breakdown in at least the economic sphere and has frequently been accompanied at a more or less remote stage by political, social, cultural, and even moral decay. In other words, stability in the sense of cessation of economic expansion seems to have been one of the indispensable conditions of ultimate demise. The major problem which this study analyzes is whether there is a necessary connection between economic stability and economic decay. The fact of past correlation is accepted. But the inevitability of it, the a priori necessary connection, merits further discussion, for if it is a necessary connection, the Western world is indeed faced with at least a serious problem. In the twentieth century the self-conscious quest for, and emphasis upon, security, the manifestation of the desire for stability, has become a firmly ingrained aspect of policy-security from external aggression, security from internal revolution, security from famine or the business cycle. All societies, of course, are concerned to a greater or lesser extent with these problems.

The article presents information on Great Salt Lake, Utah. Interest in the Great Salt Lake has increased recently because its potential economic resources appear to be close to realization. Economic development will bring problems as well as profit and, in this respect, the Great Salt Lake may be considered a microcosm of what is happening in other areas of economic growth. The map of Great Salt Lake thus takes on a larger meaning in the battle between economics and ecology. The prospect of recovering a vast reserve of important chemicals has stimulated activity in government and business.