Population

Optimum population of humans: Ideally, how many people can, or should, the Earth support?

April 11, 2023 April 10, 2023

It can seem like the human population can grow forever, but analysis makes it clear growth must stop eventually. The question becomes at what level should it stop?

Do we go for the maximum possible people before everything collapses, even if average living standards could be far better with a smaller population? Is it like a chicken farm in an egg farm, where having less chickens is seen as preferable if it means chickens get better living conditions? What population strikes the right balance for humans?

Why Population growth even before the explosion?

August 21, 2022 August 15, 2022

Throughout history, although no other species on Earth has experienced such long term overall population growth, even before the recent population explosion, the human population kept slowly growing.

Yes, we recently had an unprecedented population explosion, driven by is hidden by by the near elimination of previously tragic infant mortality, but against the background of long term growth, many of us never didn’t even realise their was an explosion.

But what drove population growth even before the explosion? What will now happen as the explosion ends?

Ghost cities and ghost homes: housing finance crisis?

June 15, 2022 June 22, 2022

“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.

the surprises hiding in life expectancy numbers.

May 17, 2022 May 20, 2022

The main surprise is that life expectancy reveals very little about how long people typically live. From the 1500s till around 1800, life expectancy throughout Europe hovered between 30 and 40 years of age, and it was only as recent as the 20th century, that life expectancy rose from 49.2 to 80.3 years. Yet famous historical figures from 2,000 years ago, typically lived to around 70 or longer.

China Population Surprise: Peak Population in 2022.

December 19, 2021 December 19, 2021

I read a story on population in China that I found surprising in three ways. Synopsis. Peak China: The Population of China Has Already Peaked.

Population Growth Advocacy: Mislead Immigration Support, or Greed & Tribalism?

December 9, 2021 March 20, 2023

In Australia, as in many countries, there appears to be almost universal acceptance of perpetual population growth. Population growth is seen as:

Desirable because it is the path to economic prosperity.

Inevitable.

A requirement for supporting refugees.

None reflect reality. So why is it, that so few contemplate a finite population target, given we live on a finite planet?

Economic Cost Of Peak Population: Market Crash in Japan, China, The World.

November 24, 2021 February 14, 2022

The world has reached peak child, and is headed towards peak population. Many economic metrics collapse between peak child and peak population, resulting in bear

Why wait? We should end population growth NOW!

November 5, 2021 March 22, 2023

I have been asked on a few occasions, why not end population growth now? It is not like we need to get more people before population growth should stop! Japan has stopped population growth, why not the rest of us? What are we waiting for?

Peak Population: We May Never Return.

October 12, 2021 February 14, 2022

For the environment, our peak population will be a nightmare. This page explores alternatives for the future of population, and the possibility that the current peak population will be the last time there are ever this many humans on Earth.

Optimum Population Responses: nature’s birth control.

September 22, 2021 July 28, 2022

Human birth rates are falling at a rate that has some fearing population collapse, but could this a natural biological repose to threats of overpopulation, rather than any cause for alarm?

This raises the question as to what controls population in other species and, why is overpopulation rare? Would all species not population controlled by predators just multiply like bacteria in petri until dish resources are all consumed, or does nature, and even potentially humans, have other mechanisms to constrain population at a more optimum level? In practice, resource constraint and predation alone as population control would for many species would result in repeated huge population swings, so logically, there must be more.

Analysing population mechanisms in other species may provide some interesting insights and possible answers to at least a large part of what is happing with birth-rates that will determine whether our future is population is one of: continued growth, collapse, or stability, on a planet where population of all life is not growing.

Topics and Subtopics.