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Since our economy depends on growth of population this is gonna be very interesting.
I don’t want to be one of “those guys” but if we ever do progress AI to the point of AGI we will be able to take care of an aging population without infinite population growth.
(Whether or not the oligarchs who control that AGI will decide to help people instead of hoarding that power is a different problem.)
We are already way past the point where we COULD take care of an aging population without population growth. The only reason we can’t do so today is corporate greed.
I’m aware of that, the point is that we might not continue to have that ability in the future should birth rates continue to fall.
And yes, greed is the main driver of human suffering today, and will likely be the same in the future.
Great! We have plenty of productivity to go around, and too many humans!
Now we need a government to make it worthwhile
Whats the point of this? One third of the population that now regularly lives to over 75 is under 25??? SHOCKER!!! EDITED - and it just gets stupider the more I look at it. The actual data is record highs and the losses are all projections. max eye roll.
Not very well articulated but your comment does point to an issue with this article. Peak anything is very difficult to verify until it’s long past. Is this the start of a reversal or just a small downward blip in continued growth? There’s no way to know for sure.
Did you really believe that any news with we are at the peak is not a prediction?
We do know the number of future parents for the next two decades pretty well, as most of them have been born already. So the only variable is how many children does the average women have. That has been falling every single year for the last 60 years with only a single year seeing a small increase. So this projection is most likely pretty good.
As for why it matters. It means the global workforce will stop its fast growth rate in two decades, increasing competition for workers. It means many countries are aging with all the consequences that brings. It means economic growth is not pushed as much by population growth as has seen before. Clearly there are other factors, but demographics matters a lot.
I do. I remember peak numbers in the single digit billions and now its pushed off and in double digit. Its like that always 20 year out thing.
Are you really surprised that predictions 70 years into the future are not highly accurate? When you look at the 2004 report, then well we are below the high prediction, but above the mid case. So if the current forecast is of similar quality, then we would indeed have been past peak birth for the next 20 years or so.
In the 2004 report the UN got fertility rates in Africa wrong, believing they would drop much faster then they did. They also though AIDS would be worse then it actually was.
Oh and UN predictions go with a peak around 2070-80 or so since the 90s.
mmmm. I read your previous as “do your really believe we are not at peak”. going back today I see its not the case so that is why I answered the way I did. I thought you were saying the predictions were accurate.
Hallelujah.
