Population and Development in Poor Countries: Selected Essays (Princeton Legacy Library) - Hardcover

Inhaltsangabe

Making the case that population growth does not hinder economic progress, and eventually raises standards of living, Julian Simon - author of the best-selling The Ultimate Resource - became one of the most controversial figures in economics during the past decade. In this book he now explores in depth the effects of population increase upon various aspects of economic development in less-developed economies. The volume pulls together a set of articles - theoretical, empirical, and policy analyses - written over two decades, with introductions to help bring out their current meanings.
The central issue addressed is the influence of the number of people upon the standard of living, with special attention to raw materials such as food and metals. Simon points out that the most important effects occur in the intermediate and long run, rather than in the short run before there is an opportunity for society to adjust to the additional people.
The studies show that within a century, or within even as short a time as a quarter of a century, the positive benefits of additional people counterbalance the short-run costs. The models and empirical analyses illuminate this fundamental fact in a study of the forces that offset the simplest Malthusian idea of diminishing returns. These factors include additional investment in irrigation and roads, and the creation and adoption of new technology.
Population growth is linked to long-run economic development through the following process: increased numbers of consumers, and the resultant increase of total income, expand the demand for raw materials as well as finished products. The resulting actual and expected shortages force up prices of the natural resources. The increased prices trigger the search for new ways to satisfy the demand, and sooner or later new sources and innovative substitutes are found. These new discoveries lead to cheaper natural resources than existed before this process began, leaving humanity better off than if the shortages had not appeared. Increased productivity of land and the development of new sources of energy from wood to coal to oil to nuclear power, exemplify this process.
Until the 1980s, the viewpoint expressed in this book was rare. There has been considerable change recently, caused in considerable part by the work in this volume and related work by the author. And now that the issue is considered an open and controversial question, there is increased interest in empirical and theoretical work on the subject.

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