>[!abstract] >[Herbert] Stein propounded Stein's Law, which he expressed in 1986 as "If something cannot go on forever, it will stop". Stein observed this logic in analyzing economic trends (such as rising US federal debt in proportion to GDP, or increasing international balance of payments deficits, in his analysis): if such a process is limited by external factors, there is no urgency for government intervention to stop it, much less to make it stop immediately, but it will stop of its own accord. A paraphrase, not attributed to Stein, is "Trends that can't continue indefinitely won't" (Wikipedia, 2025). >[!related] >- **North** (upstream): [[Sustainability]] >- **West** (similar): [[Minsky’s hypothesis]] (unsustainable booms inevitably lead to crisis through financial instability) >- **East** (different): [[Infinite growth paradigm]] >- **South** (downstream): —