After being hit hard by the GFC and the bursting of a massive property bubble, you would think that the Irish would be pessimistic about the future.  But if population trends are anything to go by, the latest census figures for the Irish republic show that the Irish are still extremely confident about the future – so confident that they are prepared to bring more and more Irish babies into the world and into that future.

According to the Irish times, the Irish population is now greater than at any time since the immediate aftermath of the devastating famine of the 1850s which saw hundreds of thousands starve and hundreds of thousands more leave for other countries (to England, Scotland, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand).  As of 2011, there are now 4.6 million people living in the 26 southern counties… click here to read whole article and make comments

In a couple of weeks Pro-Life New Zealand (which is, unless you somehow guessed already, a pro-life group in New Zealand) is bringing Steven Mosher out to speak at three different university campuses throughout the country – Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.  Mosher is, according to the Pro-Life NZ website, a “best-selling author and internationally-acclaimed authority on Chinese reproductive policies”.  If you watch the movie they’ve made to advertise his visit (see above), you can see that he is a man who is passionate about the one-child policy in China its effects – especially the Chinese government forces women to undergo abortions.  As we have seen before on this blog, this is not an historical issue, last year the Guardian reported that a Chinese woman had died on the operating table in China… click here to read whole article and make comments

In London today the Planet Under Pressure conference will come to an end.  “What is this conference about?” I hear you ask.  Well, according to its website (seriously, what did we do before the internet??) the conference:

“…will provide a comprehensive update of the pressure planet Earth is now under. The conference will discuss solutions at all scales to move societies on to a sustainable pathway. It will provide scientific leadership towards the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development - Rio+20.”

It is to get a group of scientists, NGOs etc together before the 2012 UN Conference so that they can thrash out issues and discuss things. A discussion before a discussion – a discussion entrée perhaps?  Now, contrary to rumours, I am not a “whiff of grapeshot” reactionary.  (The picture of Metternich hanging in my office is purely for… click here to read whole article and make comments

Last week the New York Times ran an opinion piece entitled “The Fertility Implosion” by long term Op-Ed columnist David Brooks.  This article was remarkable not so much for its content per se (good readers of this blog would have seen little that is new) but for the fact that it seems as if the chattering classes/literati/New York Times readers are finally cottoning onto the fact that the planet is not doomed by pending overpopulation. In fact, the opposite could instead be closer to the truth:

“If the 20th century was the century of the population explosion, the 21st century, as [Nicholas] Eberstadt notes, is looking like the century of the fertility implosion. Already, nearly half the world’s population… click here to read whole article and make comments

Brazil has come up with a novel way to fight crime – employ Batman.  They are right in thinking something needs to be done.  Brazil has the highest rate of murders committed by youths in the world, almost 8000 more per year than the country in second place - Columbia.  It has the fifth highest number of people in jail. 

However, the route Brazil has chosen to fight crime is novel.  The city of Taubate has hired former soldier, Andre Luiz Pinheiro, to patrol the streets of the city dressed as Batman.  Rather than fighting real life… click here to read whole article and make comments

Good afternoon everyone! Well the cricket series down here in New Zealand is not going too well.  We’re hosting South Africa (who I would argue is the best side in world cricket at the moment) and it’s looking as if the second test is heading towards a fairly comfortable South African win. Once again New Zealand’s wafer thin batting line up has been exposed – although we poor, long-suffering New Zealand supporters can take comfort in the fact that we are facing some of the best fast bowling you can find.  At least we’re not putting up a terrible batting show against a terrible opposition. 

Anyway, to take our minds off the bad cricket news, let’s have a look at a couple of interesting stories that I came across recently that are loosely connected to demography. First, Reuters has reported that a… click here to read whole article and make comments

One of the problems of a growing global population that needs to be solved is how do we feed all those extra mouths?  We’ve looked at UN reports on this issue. We've also looked at counterviews that actually there is enough food for us all at the moment and the lack of food for many in the world are caused more by waste, inadequate storage and transport infrastructure and wars.  One factor that is constantly ignored by those predicting overpopulation doom is that a growing global population doesn’t just add to the number of mouths to feed. It also adds to the world’s human capital – it adds to the number of minds that can dedicate themselves to solving problems that the world is faced with – problems like a shortage of food, or transport and storage difficulties, or an… click here to read whole article and make comments

The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research has just released a report entitled “Grow for it”, which argues that, rather than being worried about increasing population levels, New Zealand should aim to increase its population to 15 million in the next 50 years.  It is interesting that such a report is arguing that higher migration and higher fertility is beneficial - given that all we ever seem to hear is that we should have less children and become smaller for the ‘good of all’ these days.

According to the report a bigger population would help New Zealand offset the “looming fiscal challenges of an ageing population” with better economies of scale.  The best way to do this is through migration which will directly increase the working age population.  Makes sense.

At the moment… click here to read whole article and make comments

I came across an interesting interview in the Wall Street Journal the other day which highlights another detrimental economic effect from the mass of baby boomers retiring in the next few years.  Robert D Arnott, “a portfolio manager, asset-management executive and inveterate researcher”, claims that baby boomers who have planned ahead for their retirement and have saved and invested wisely will have a slight problem - the returns from these investments that they are relying upon will not be as high as expected. 

“The problem in a nutshell: The ratio of retirees to active workers in the U.S. will balloon. As retirees sell stocks and then bonds to support themselves, there will be fewer younger investors to buy those securities, keeping a lid on prices. Meanwhile, strong demand from boomers and a limited supply of workers will boost the prices… click here to read whole article and make comments