logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2025
39m 51s

The population clock

Steve Keen & Phil Dobbie
About this episode
There are, its estimated, 8.2 billion people on the planet. The UN projects that the world's population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050 and 11.2 billion by 2100. We won’t reach that, says Steve Keen. Even if we ignore climate change, we’ll exceed our capacity to support the population, and the as countries become richer their fertility rate will decline. The hope is that the natural decline happens before more extreme declines brought about by war, climate change and starvation.  But, even intis best case scenario, we need to address the issue that the population is not always close to the food it needs, and economics naturally concentrates capital.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Sep 30
Should Britain rejoin the EU?
Phil and Steve unpack the case for a renewed relationship with Europe, from trade and supply chains to freedom of movement and political sovereignty. They debate whether the euro still makes sense in an era of low-cost digital payments, why a shared currency can leave national ec ... Show More
37m 53s
Sep 23
Are bond vigilantes in charge?
Bond yields are not “warning” governments to behave—they’re exposing a system where central banks and treasuries can backstop the entire market whenever they choose. Steve says the panic around government debt is mostly an economic fairy tale, and the real danger is what happens ... Show More
32m 43s
Sep 16
The always moving equilibrium
Equilibrium is a fantasy—and this conversation explains why. Phil and teve explore how the belief that markets naturally self-correct has shaped economic policy, contributed to the failure to anticipate the Global Financial Crisis, and continues to distort debates about bond yiel ... Show More
36m 32s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2022
Humanity at Eight Billion
<p>At eight billion people, humanity has reached a major demographic milestone. Yet with a growing population, questions arise over whether nations can keep up. While developed Western countries struggle to take care of aging populations and low birth rates, many developing count ... Show More
35m 17s
Apr 2017
How Many People Can Earth Support?
Our planet is getting rather cosy. In just over 200 years, the global population has grown from 1 billion to almost 7.5 billion – and the best estimates suggest it’s going to keep on increasing. But just how far can it go? When will we reach ‘peak human’? That’s what CrowdScience ... Show More
26m 47s
Nov 2022
What role is overpopulation playing in the climate crisis?
<p>If there were fewer of us, would the amount of greenhouse gasses we emit reduce? It’s a question that often creeps up in discussions about climate change. Studies show that the global population will decline eventually and populations in many rich nations are already declining ... Show More
27m 24s
Oct 2018
How will we survive when the population hits 10 billion? | Charles C. Mann
By 2050, an estimated 10 billion people will live on earth. How are we going to provide everybody with basic needs while avoiding the worst impacts of climate change? In a talk packed with wit and wisdom, science journalist Charles C. Mann breaks down the proposed solutions and f ... Show More
12m 54s
Jul 2019
Can We Save Our Planet
Our planet is in a state of crisis. Global warming is sending temperatures soaring to record highs, and ice is melting at an increasingly alarming rate. Ocean levels rose by 8 inches in the last century, putting small islands at risk of being completely wiped out. Natural disaste ... Show More
53m 48s
Dec 2022
8 billion humans
The United Nations says humanity has reached 8 billion, but Western nations are worried about population decline. Africa isn’t, though. The continent is about to shape the rest of the century. This episode was produced by Haleema Shah, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by ... Show More
26m 5s
Sep 2023
Population Decline: is the world about to implode?
<p>The population is going to decrease soon. Different studies predict that it will peak within our lifetime and decrease or stabilize for the first time in recorded history. This is existentially scary for many corporations and some politicians, but some scientists and demograph ... Show More
1h 3m
Apr 2019
How can we feed 11 billion people?
The world’s population is set to grow from 7.7 to 11 billion by the end of this century. The challenge is to produce enough food to feed this number of people. In the 1960s the Green Revolution provided answers to similar problems – but the projected population growth of the futu ... Show More
23m 31s