The Quantitative Optimum of Population

BY the quantitative optimum I mean the number that is most desirable for the attainment of some particular end or goal. For Plato it would have been that number which could be organized into a model city state. For a Marshal of France it may be a number equal or superior to that of Germany. Some theologians believe that the greater the number of souls, the greater the glory of God; and logical pessimists would rejoice at the prospect of racial extinction. This paper deals with the quantitative optimum which should prevail were we to consider only our material advancement. This is not to imply that economic advancement is the

Economics · Epistemology · Glory · Pessimism · Physics · Population · Positive economics · Sociology · Demography · Economic Growth and Productivity · Economic theories and models · Economic Theory and Institutions · History · Philosophy