He is probably merely saying that child elasticity is not very high. I doubt he is making the more extreme claim that it is zero. Also, it's not like having a c

He is probably merely saying that child elasticity is not very high. I doubt he is making the more extreme claim that it is zero. Also, it's not like having a child is profitable. It's just not as expensive as it could be. Your claim that we are paying people to have children is a little misleading.