The profits go to the few, and everyone else picks up the tab.
By David R. Francis, Staff Writer, The Christian Science Monitor, August 17, 2009 edition
Forty-five nations face a population “bust” that has some leaders wringing their hands. They worry about the costs of supporting an aging society and the loss of national and economic power.
When US Vice President Joe Biden spoke of Russia’s “withering” population last month, Russian leaders bristled.
But notions that population growth is a boon for prosperity – or that national political success depends on it – are “Ponzi demography,” says Joseph Chamie, former director of the population division of the United Nations.
The profits of growth go to the few, and everyone else picks up the tab. …Click to read the original