Encouraging population decline is pure defeatism
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By Matthew Lesh
- There’s ample evidence that as cities get more dense they become more innovative and productive
- Lower birth rates and higher life expectancy will create a £250 billion hole in public finances by the mid-2070s
- Extolling the benefits of population decline is straight out of the anti-growth coalition playbook
A new academic paper arguing that a declining birth rate may actually boost living standards has grabbed some attention in recent days. Professor David Miles – who happens to be the chief forecaster for the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) – contends that ‘the economic impacts are likely, on balance, to be positive’ from falling populations.
Miles argues that a smaller population can increase the average quality of life because a higher population puts strains on limited public services, infrastructure and housing. A smaller population also means that less needs to be saved and invested, and more can be spent on consumption today.
This idea is superficia...
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