Now, its obvious that the world's population will stop increasing and one day decline, and in some parts of the world this is already happening.
This could have dramatic effects as the capitalist based economy we see in the West runs out of exploitable population to use and market to. With more and more companies seeking to exploit ever shrinking markets the US' reliance (and to a lesser degree Europe's reliance) on foreign populations to fuel its economy will only cause problems in the future. The problem is brought into acute focus when you consider China, the country with the world's largest proven reserves of population, is unwilling (or is that unable?!) to increase capacity, and at the same time is seeking to be one of, if not the, world's largest capitalist economy.
The effects of declining population reserves can be alleviated by improved technology/production methods or by developing alternative products for market which will make previously uneconomic populations viable again. Africa for example was abandoned for most of the 20th century, but as markets become tighter and population becomes scarce, the poor Sub-Saharan Africans with their still rapid rate of growth may prove just valuable enough to turn a profit on.
So anyway, what do you foresee as the real consequence of a static or slowly declining population - Japan doesn't look good, but are its problems really problems or just a sign that its not really subject to the traditional scales of healthy economy?
The peak population issue is different to the problem of an ageing population, but discuss that if you want too.
This could have dramatic effects as the capitalist based economy we see in the West runs out of exploitable population to use and market to. With more and more companies seeking to exploit ever shrinking markets the US' reliance (and to a lesser degree Europe's reliance) on foreign populations to fuel its economy will only cause problems in the future. The problem is brought into acute focus when you consider China, the country with the world's largest proven reserves of population, is unwilling (or is that unable?!) to increase capacity, and at the same time is seeking to be one of, if not the, world's largest capitalist economy.
The effects of declining population reserves can be alleviated by improved technology/production methods or by developing alternative products for market which will make previously uneconomic populations viable again. Africa for example was abandoned for most of the 20th century, but as markets become tighter and population becomes scarce, the poor Sub-Saharan Africans with their still rapid rate of growth may prove just valuable enough to turn a profit on.
So anyway, what do you foresee as the real consequence of a static or slowly declining population - Japan doesn't look good, but are its problems really problems or just a sign that its not really subject to the traditional scales of healthy economy?
The peak population issue is different to the problem of an ageing population, but discuss that if you want too.
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