<
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/review-essay/2019-08-12/population-bust>
"Just as much of the world has come to see rapid population growth as
normal and expected, the trends are shifting again, this time into
reverse. Most parts of the world are witnessing sharp and sudden
contractions in either birthrates or absolute population. The only thing
preventing the population in many countries from shrinking more quickly
is that death rates are also falling, because people everywhere are
living longer. These oscillations are not easy for any society to manage."
[…]
"The mismatch between expectations of a rapidly growing global
population (and all the attendant effects on climate, capitalism, and
geopolitics) and the reality of both slowing growth rates and absolute
contraction is so great that it will pose a considerable threat in the
decades ahead. Governments worldwide have evolved to meet the challenge
of managing more people, not fewer and not older. Capitalism as a system
is particularly vulnerable to a world of less population expansion; a
significant portion of the economic growth that has driven capitalism
over the past several centuries may have been simply a derivative of
more people and younger people consuming more stuff. If the world ahead
has fewer people, will there be any real economic growth? We are not
only unprepared to answer that question; we are not even starting to ask
it."
Via Dewayne Hendricks and Dave Farber.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://www.xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
http://www.glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
http://www.sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
