The Global Baby Bust

Bibliographic Data

ID3144661
AuthorsPhillip Longman (corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume83
Issue3
Pages64
Publication date2004-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueForeign Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0015-7120 • E-ISSN: 2327-7793
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/20033976
OpenAlexW180741138
LanguageEN
Citations received8

You awaken to news of a morning traffic jam. Leaving home early for a doctors appointment you nonetheless arrive too late to find parking. After waiting two hours for a 15-minute consultation you wait again to have your prescription filled. All the while you worry about the work youve missed because so many other people would line up to take your job. Returning home to the evening news you watch throngs of youths throwing stones somewhere in the Middle East and a feature on disappearing farmland in the Midwest. A telemarketer calls for the third time telling you We need your help to save the rain forest. As you set the alarm clock for the morning one neighbors car alarm goes off and anothers air conditioner starts to whine. So goes a day in the life of an average American. It is thus hardly surprising that many Americans think overpopulation is one of the worlds most pressing problems. To be sure the typical Westerner enjoys an unprecedented amount of private space. Compared to their parents most now live in larger homes occupied by fewer children. They drive ever-larger automobiles in which they can eat smoke or listen to the radio in splendid isolation. Food is so abundant that obesity has become a leading cause of death. (excerpt)

Boom · Bust · Development economics · Economics · International trade · Keynesian economics · Political science · Breastfeeding Practices and Influences · Child and Adolescent Health · Geology · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Oceanography

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