The resurgence of Malthusian thesis is still very common, but errors in demographic predictions are numerous and serious. It is often overestimated the importance of technological innovation, associated precisely with the population growth. In reality, there are finite resources. The market and intelligence - the ultimate resources - empower several solutions.
“I think my position is an ethical position. The truth is that if we do not reduce the population and consumption, then there is an opportunity to move our civilization to collapse." By intervening in September 17th, 2008 at a forum organised by the magazine Salon.com, Paul Ehrlich, in 1968, the author of "The Population Bomb" with a pertinent demographic piece, reiterated his belief …show more content…
Until then he had mainly dealt with other issues (among others, had devised plans for the management of overbooking, today commonly used by airlines). He had a similar perspective of that of Malthus. Albeit he deepened the topic, he realised that the empirical evidence fundamentally opposed to such a vision. The attempt to rationalise this discrepancy between a seemingly solid theory and experience, on the contrary, led to understand that the Malthusian logic are right only for short terms. In the long run, it is not correct to assert that resources are finite. In economic terms (in the relationship between supply and demand) they are endless. This is thanks to the smooth functioning of the market (which provides the institutional framework able to harmonise the current and the future supply and demand) and the human intelligence. "More people and greater revenue, in the short term make the resources scarcer. Deepening scarcity determines the set of prices. Rising prices provides an opportunity and push investors and entrepreneurs to seek solutions. Many fail in their quest, at their expense, but in a free society solutions in the end come out, in the long term developments leave us in a better condition always if we won’t encounter any problems. Thus, prices plummet before the rarity is verified. "Such a vision is confirmed by the historiography’ researchers: for example, Colin Renfrew states that, " it is often demographic growth that provokes the farming system's modifications [...]. Without a demographic growth, which implies a greater number of mouths feeding, there would be no incentive to work harder to produce a little more food. "Simon's "cocktail" ingredients are both equally important. The first are the existence of a well-functioning market, thus the price system. Prices give us a
“I think my position is an ethical position. The truth is that if we do not reduce the population and consumption, then there is an opportunity to move our civilization to collapse." By intervening in September 17th, 2008 at a forum organised by the magazine Salon.com, Paul Ehrlich, in 1968, the author of "The Population Bomb" with a pertinent demographic piece, reiterated his belief …show more content…
Until then he had mainly dealt with other issues (among others, had devised plans for the management of overbooking, today commonly used by airlines). He had a similar perspective of that of Malthus. Albeit he deepened the topic, he realised that the empirical evidence fundamentally opposed to such a vision. The attempt to rationalise this discrepancy between a seemingly solid theory and experience, on the contrary, led to understand that the Malthusian logic are right only for short terms. In the long run, it is not correct to assert that resources are finite. In economic terms (in the relationship between supply and demand) they are endless. This is thanks to the smooth functioning of the market (which provides the institutional framework able to harmonise the current and the future supply and demand) and the human intelligence. "More people and greater revenue, in the short term make the resources scarcer. Deepening scarcity determines the set of prices. Rising prices provides an opportunity and push investors and entrepreneurs to seek solutions. Many fail in their quest, at their expense, but in a free society solutions in the end come out, in the long term developments leave us in a better condition always if we won’t encounter any problems. Thus, prices plummet before the rarity is verified. "Such a vision is confirmed by the historiography’ researchers: for example, Colin Renfrew states that, " it is often demographic growth that provokes the farming system's modifications [...]. Without a demographic growth, which implies a greater number of mouths feeding, there would be no incentive to work harder to produce a little more food. "Simon's "cocktail" ingredients are both equally important. The first are the existence of a well-functioning market, thus the price system. Prices give us a