March 13, 2012
Yes, I am serious. He decries the fact that birth rates are now dropping in the Arab world as they had previously in Europe, Japan, and China.
It is utterly bizarre to see a piece like this. Does Brooks not know that wealth depends on income per person, not total income (i.e. Bangladesh is not richer than Denmark in any meaningful sense).
We can easily get by with a lower ratio of workers to retirees because of productivity growth. Furthermore, the smaller number of children will have an important role in reducing the number of non-workers that each worker must support. And, fewer people means less emission of greenhouse emissions and other pollution and less strain on the physical infrastructure.
If Brooks is troubled by lower or negative population growth it must reflect his religious beliefs, it is not a concern that has a basis in reality.
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