2019
Volume 19, Number 1/2, pp. 11-21
A sustainable world population
Jeremy J. Ramsden,1 Alexandra A. Mamali2 and Nikolaos T. Athanassoulis3
1 Clore Laboratory, The University of Buckingham, England
2 Cass Business School Alumni, Athens, Greece
3 Laboratory of Industrial and Energy Economics (LIEE), National Technical University of Athens, Greece
Indices of resource depletion and other indicators inimical to sustainability, such as pollution, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and mean temperature of the Earth's surface, are all proportional to population and mean gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. In order to combat the imminent threat of a catastrophic collapse of our present way of life, it would therefore appear that either population or mean GDP per capita must be drastically reduced. This paper focuses on the first possible remedy. An objective calculation assuming that improved healthcare is the main reason for burgeoning population growth indicates that 2000 million people is the optimal population for Earth. A counterargument to population reduction is the notion that a third way exists, namely a vast improvement in the effectiveness of resource utilization, an idea that certainly has merit; it is moreover proposed that the more brains there are on Earth, the more abundant the emergence of new transformative technologies for achieving that third way. Evidence for the link between population and creativity is critically examined. One corollary of that link is the desirability of diminishing human body size.
Keywords: creativity, food, J-value, obesity, optimum, pollution, resources, technology