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Eban Goodstein Department of Economics
518-584-5000 (2739) 811 N. Broadway
fax: 518-584-3023 Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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My reading of the population discussion is that many folks think is
that it distracts from the "real" issues underlying poverty and
underdevelopment-- ie neocolonialism, debt, unequal distribution of
wealth, overconsumption in rich countries. My own view is that
population growth is better seen as one of the "real" issues in its
own right.
I think it is hard to argue that rapid population growth in this
day and age does not severely aggravate attempts to reduce poverty
in poor countries. In Zambia for example, 3% growth rates mean that
just to stay even, the (bankrupt) state has to increase investment
in education by 3% per year in real terms. Obviously Zambia's
current situation has been largely determined by its colonial
history, but from a practical perspective, population control has
got to be part of the solution. [Musambachime, Mwelma (1990).
"The Impact of Rapid Population Growth on Economic Decline: The
Case of Zambia", Review of African Political Economy, 448-2, 81-
91.]
By the year 2050 world population is certain to double to around 11
billion people; an optimistic view sees population stabilizing at
that level, as a result of genuine and (sustainable?) economic
development in the LDC's, the much discussed increase in education
and formal labor market participation for women, and greatly
increased funding for birth control. But it is disturbingly easy to
envision much higher population levels by that time.
While suspicion of the World Bank's motives are in order, as well
as exposure of the coercive policies followed by Ghandi in India,
it seems that we should welcome the recent initiatives by the
environmental and development organizations, and put our energies
into seeing that population control is not about control, but
instead, about choice.
