Bet you didn’t ever think about population growth as a giant Ponzi Scheme. Well, it is. Consider our economic model. Business is good when sales (and profits) increase. But with fewer buyers, sales growth is limited. Public funding is based on tax revenue. As inflation (even in 2%/year terms) increases the cost of public projects we need more tax revenue than in prior years to be able to pay for needed public projects. Fewer people means less tax revenue. And think Social Security…fewer active employees to contribute to the SSA Trust Fund have it on the brink of insolvency. In 1936–when the SSA law was enacted–the ratio of active employees (contributors) for every SSA beneficiary was huge. Today it’s about 2.2 actives for every retiree receiving SSA benefits. The subtle causes of this downward expectancy spiral are varied. We have fewer marriage and child-bearing commitments in the general population. We have dangerous lifestyles where excess drugs, alcohol and even food destroy lives. We have a gun-crazy society that embraces daily mass shootings. Many people engage in risky sports activities. And–a big one–people want their freedom without the encumbrance of having to care for others. All this leads to fewer births and the resulting older age population. As the demographics slip so do all the advantages of a constant widening population base. What’s somewhat ironic is that an economist, Robert Malthus, once predicted that overpopulation would eventually destroy human civilization. Look up the “Malthusian Dictum”. His attitude was one of the reasons that economics became known as “The Dismal Science”. Now you know…

Category
Tags

Comments are closed