Originally a comment by Artymorty on Crank them out, ladies.
A healthy populace needs steady economic growth.
Steady economic growth comes from constantly increasing productivity.
Productivity growth requires the ongoing creation of new jobs.
New jobs require an ever-growing working-age population.
That’s been the formula for the past half-century or more. But it rests on a number of assumptions that can’t stay true forever. And just because this formula has worked up until now doesn’t mean it’s the only one that can ever work.
Firstly, and most obviously, civilization can’t just keep growing and consuming forever. The planet’s size is fixed, and so are the resources within it.
Secondly, there’s no actual law that states that a healthy populace … Read the rest