Malthus and his Ghost (A Critique of The Club of Rome and Paul R. Ehrlich)

In Kurt Finsterbusch & George Mkenna (eds.), Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Social Issues. Dushkin Publishing (1990)
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Abstract

Philosophy and economics of Malthusianism. An optimistic view of human population growth and a critique of The Club of Rome and Paul R. Ehrlich, author of The Population Bomb. I apply Julian Simon's perspective to the malthusian debate, inspired by his book The Ultimate Resource. When a child is born he brings into existence not just an extra mouth to feed, but two hands and - more importantly in the long run - an extra brain with which to solve any problems that an increase in population brings. In the long run, and given enough freedom, there in a propensity for humans to produce more than they consume. We are not just like flies in a bottle with a limited amount of resources, but creative creatures that can in principle engage in continual, never ending economic growth. More Info: Multiple publishers: National Review; Clashing Views on Controversial Social Issues; Libertarian Alliance, UK.

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Ray Scott Percival
London School of Economics (PhD)

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