The claimed population or fertility crisis is still making the rounds in the media, and is a centerpiece of discussion online, too.
As I wrote in a 2022 post, the fertility/population crisis is an invention by billionaires and other elites–propagated by both the mainstream media and social media–over the irrational/unsupported fear that the world is running out of enough people/consumers to keep buying the junk necessary for the wealthiest to preserve their personal wealth. Otherwise, hardly anyone outside of the bubble or echo chamber of social media, cares or notices that there is a fertility crisis.
The motive is so transparently self-serving: they will use every loophole in the book or are opposed to paying higher taxes to support the additional infrastructure required for more people, yet want the profits and top-line growth that come with having more total consumers.
More population will also mean existing public services being overstrained. This is because infrastructure tends to lag population growth, or never catches up, especially in the US. Elon and his pundit/podcaster friends can afford top private healthcare, private security, private jets, and private schools, but public services and infrastructure are at overcapacity due to too many people, resulting in long wait times and degradation of service. The ER for example is always filled with people. Same for airports and roads, and longer commutes. Crime is also worse by having too many people.
When one runs the numbers, there is a huge range of sub-replacement fertility levels that leads to only very gradual declines of population. Despite Japan being the posterchild of a fertility crisis and depopulation, AND having among the strictest immigration laws of any country, has seen only a tiny decline in population from its peak. It’s almost imperceptible:
The notion that more people equals more prosperity is also unsupported by the evidence. GDP per capita arguably matters more than total number of people or total GDP. For example, compare Luxembourg, one of the wealthiest countries in the world per capita to India or much of Africa. Those who who extoll the ‘U must do ur part and have m0re kids’ line do not see this. Per capita wealth and output has grown massively over the past century. More productivity means fewer people are needed.
Also, the correlation between dollar-adjusted GDP growth and population growth is also weak or even negative. High–fertility countries tend to have weak GDP growth when their local currencies are converted to US dollar, due to high inflation and currency collapse. They are growing nominally and in terms of population, but not becoming wealthier, more productive, or more innovative.
Turkey and Brazil have greater population growth compared to most developed countries but much more inflation, lower per capita wealth, lower standards of living, etc. Japan’s stock market and economy has been among the top performers of past decade despite the cries of crisis about population. I think it’s time to give the population/fertility scaremongering and rhetoric a rest.