4 ms·
Am I the only one who thinks that a shrinking population might also result in large-scale technological growth? Scarcity often results in innovation. A finite
by arcanus 10y ago
Am I the only one who thinks that a shrinking population might also result in large-scale technological growth?
Scarcity often results in innovation. A finite resource like labor will result in higher salaries due to competition and innovation to increase productivity to circumvent his costs.
Conversely, a glut of labor results in low wages and societal problems as fewer positions exist than job seekers.
This appears consisten historically: After the black death in europe, workers were more valuable and this helped break the chains of serfdom and feudalism.
I am all for a smaller global population, particularly in light of the growing automation I expect to observe in the next 30 years.
- lj3 10y ago> Am I the only one who thinks that a shrinking population might also result in large-scale technological growth? The problem is the only population that's shrinking is well educated white liberals. Ironically, they're the only ones that buy that not having kids will somehow benefit the "planet".
- norikki 10y agoYup. The people who need to be told to stop having kids are the people in India, Mexico and Nigeria etc. who are currently having population explosions that have crippled their economic progress and have lead to intractable poverty, environmental mismanagement, and starvation.
- newyankee 10y agoIndia has a fairly low fertility rate compared to other countries of similar socio economic conditions, it is just that it has a very high population base and most of it is very young. Also the fertility rate is varies significantly across the country. If you think about it countries like Saudi, Pakistan and most parts of Africa have the highest fertility rates
- thansharp 10y agoI could refute this by bringing up the carbon footprint of India vs. the US.