Population Economics + People Farming

It seems like the human population has forever been growing, but any analysis makes it clear growth must stop eventually at some level. Perhaps consider that the wealthier each person, the less people the planet can support when answering the question of at what level should growth stop? Do we go for the maximum possible people just before everything collapses, even if average living standards could be far better with a smaller population? When caged hens are farmed for eggs, people advocate for a lower population to allow living free-range for a better existence, yet with people being farmed by multinationals, billionaires and politicians growing the human population to grow the economy, it seems that denser and denser housing and reduced resources per person for human workers is accepted. Most countries seem to agree that global population growth should end but and state that ends its own population growth faces economic disaster.

When it dawned on me that global economy is effectively a Ponzi scheme, it felt was a 'light bulb' moment'.  But has anyone else seen this?  I did an internet search and was not surprised to find that it has, indeed, dawned on many others as well. If you do a search, as I did, you will find many insights into this topic and that there are several different ways the global economy can be seen as a Ponzi scheme. Scary!

“Anyone who believes in indefinite growth in anything physical, on a physically finite planet, is either mad or an economist.”Attributed to Kenneth Boulding in: United States. Congress. House (1973)  This applies to not just to population growth, but just maybe also to the growth in value of housing. This page is a look at 'ghost cities' and 'ghost homes', and the window they provide into how distorted investment can become in the pursuit of growth. The end result of the distortions can be overvalued assets funded by highly leveraged ordinary citizens. If that is the case, not just with ghost cities but beyond, the correction will clearly present a financial crisis.

Have you heard of the ‘ageing population problem’? Why is it a problem that people are living longer? Is the suggestion that retirees can never be productive, but children can be put to work? Really? Or is the real issue that both sides of the political spectrum find either economic immigration reasons to apply confirmation bias which leads to arguing for a return to the population explosion, and immoral immigration policies that fuel the far right and erode the living standards of societies' children. This page looks at the real issues underpinning an 'ageing population'. The reality is: an ageing population itself is not a real problem, but suggested measures to address it are real problems.