Thread by @brian_armstrong

Very interesting read on population growth and (supposed) scarcity of resources
cato.org/policy-analysi…

If other good resources on this curious to read more.

"humanity suffers from a negativity bias, or “vigilance for bad things around us.”...Consequently, there will always be a market for purveyors of bad news, be they doomsayers who claim that overpopulation will cause mass starvation or...running out of natural resources"

"people often assume that population growth leads to resource depletion. We found the opposite. Over the past 37 years, every additional human being born on our planet appears to have made resources proportionately more plentiful for the rest of us."

"Between 1980 and 2017, the time-price of our basket of commodities declined by 64.7 percent. Over the same time period, the world’s population increased from 4.46 billion to 7.55 billion."

“This is my long-run forecast in brief: The material conditions of life will continue to get better for most people, in most countries, most of the time, indefinitely...I also speculate, however, that many people will continue to think and say that the conditions...are worse.”

"Consequently, we propose Simon’s Rule, which states that “As population increases, the time-price of most commodities will get cheaper for most people, most of the time. Unfortunately, most people will assume the opposite.”"

The article doesn't cover energy usage - but have seen some other good comments about the abundant amount of solar energy that hits earth each day.

Seems like it would take us very far, even without advances like fusion.