More people mean more innovation, not just more consumption
So a rising population can solve many of the problems it causes, argues “Superabundance”
Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet. By Marian Tupy and Gale Pooley. Cato Institute; 655 pages; $34.95
In 1980 chinese officials met to discuss birth control. One of them, Song Jian, had just returned from Europe, where he had read two influential books: “The Limits to Growth” (published by the Club of Rome, a think-tank), and “A Blueprint for Survival” (based on an article in the Ecologist magazine). Both argued that a growing population would deplete Earth’s resources, with results including “the breakdown of society and the irreversible disruption of life-support systems on this planet”.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline "People power"
Culture September 17th 2022
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