exponential population growth as a potential downfall of the economy

Oded Galor and David N. Weil’s work, From Malthusian Stagnation to Modern Growth describes three different regimes on society including population, GDP per capita, family, and lifespan. They are the Malthusian model, the Post Malthusian model, and the Modern Growth Era model. The first of these three was the Malthusian model, developed by Malthus in the late 18th century, the Modern Growth is what we have today, and the post Malthusian model is the transition between the two ends of the spectrum.

Population Growth and the Malthusian Prophecy All exponential growth must have a limit. There is simply no getting around this reality for the following reason: any population or other object which grows exponentially will eventually overtake the size of the universe, a physical impossibility, at least as we conceptualize physics. Take the example of Standard Oil, run by John D. Rockefeller, the largest monopoly this country has seen. Just past the beginning of the twentieth century, Standard Oil was growing at an exponential pace greater than that of the economy.

population in OECD countries by the end of 2050 (U.N., 2002). This essay argues that in

In the past seventy-five years the United States has increased its population over by 200% to a staggering three hundred and fourteen million people according to the United States Census Bureau. This growing number represents a series of unfavorable factors which can have major effects on our country. Detrimental elements such as poverty can have spiraling effects on things such as education, and depletion of our ecosystems natural resources. Overdevelopment in the United States is an increasing issue, as we push the margins of calculated safe population stability; America faces struggles of scarcity and an overall decline in quality of life from its overdevelopment.

Lutz, W., Scherbow, S., & Sanderson, W. (2003), ‘The end of population growth in Asia’, Journal of Population Research, 20(1): 125-141.

Population size is quite pertinent when understanding a country’s GDP per capita, because the population is divided by the real GDP to calculate the per capita rate. Superficially a country can appear to be wealthy due to its immense GDP; however, due to its population size, the country can have a low level of GDP per capita and thus a low standard of living. Theoretically, we assume that an increase in population will essentially increase GDP, because there will be more participants entering the labor force and more money circulating through the economy, therefore, equating to an increase in the production of output. The dilemma that stems from the exponential growth in population is that it can grow at a rate that eclipses that of the GDP, meaning the growth rate of the population may surpass that of the GDP. What is problematic in this case that the population size exceeds GDP is it minimizes the amount of income that is distributed among the population, therefore resulting in a lower standard of living. In the case that population is checked and maintained at a sustainable level, the country can then experience an increase in GDP per capita leading to an increase in the standard of

Professor Paul Collier has argued, “ Economic growth is not a cure-all; but the absence of growth is a kill-all”. Economic growth can cause a few problems. Economic growth is

The first stage of the demographic transition model is the pre industrial stage. In this stage birth and death rates are both usually high, which normally leads to almost no population growth within a country. The second stage of the demographic transition model is the Agricultural revolution stage, where one finds a reduction in death rates (DR), but birth rates (BR) remain high. In this stage there is also a population explosion, which is found mainly in underdeveloped and developing countries. Moving on to the third stage known as the industrial revolution stage one sees a drastic change in population. Some of the change is due to advances in medicine and improvements in diet. These changes caused a drop in death rates and birth rates drop. “Human life expectancy in the industrialized countries soared from an average of 35 years in the eighteenth century to 75 years or more at present.” In this stage we find that the birth rates are about the same and death rates are lower. The last stage known as the post industrial period produces zero population growth. The zero population growth is achieved when there is both a halt or decline in both birth rates and death rates. Many countries however do not pass all the way through the demographic transition, but rather have a prolonged period during stage two, where the population explosion is in full effect, this causes for some problems in the countries and populations on a global scale.

Now people have realized, the dangers of over-population. Every country is caught up with this problem and population growth control has become an economic necessities. Some countries have taken control of population seriously that it has become a national effort. Through media people are being educated about the disadvantages of over-population.

According to one estimate, Pakistan’s population will almost double in the next 32 years at the current growth rate of 1.9 % . Higher population growth supplies more workforces in the market and given the low economic growth in the past it creates fewer jobs hence giving rise to unemployment and ultimately increasing the poverty .Which than affects the economic growth of Pakistan . So now you can see that how overpopulation is a social problem , increases the economic pr...