Empty Planet
by Darrell Jay Bricker, John Ibbitson · first published 2019
16mentions
6recommended by
12HN commenters
2019–2024first – last mentioned
50% recommend42% neutral8% critical
Why HN recommends it
Clear, country-by-country look at falling birth rates in places like Japan, Korea and Europe, with a focus on what declining population means for labor, immigration and economies; suits readers new to demographics.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Explores the pros and cons of a declining global population, including worker shortages, lower risk of famine, and greater affluence and autonomy for women.
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With worldwide population growth curves flattening and population pyramids inverting, countries of tomorrow will be positively clamouring for immigrants. A good book to read on the topic is Empty Planet by Bricker & Ibbitson[1]. One of their observations is that the country best placed to weather the coming demographic storm is the US, as they have a ready supply of immigrants south of their border.…
on “EU citizens arriving in UK being locked up and expelled” ↗…concentrate. Labor shortages are not a temporary phenomenon, whether here in the US or elsewhere. They are already locked for at least several generations due to present-day demographics and family trends. Empty Planet by Darrell Bricker & John Ibbitson explains why far better than I can. There are plenty of open jobs for all types of skills. Not everyone needs to be retrained as an engineer.
on “Robot Orders Up 40% as Employers Seek Relief from Labor Shortage” ↗Pick up a copy of Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline by Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson; ISBN13: 9781984823229. Contains interviews with women indicating what I quoted from various cultures. Women want less children…
on “The Age of Depopulation” ↗The book Empty Planet is a very interesting read that looks around the world at various countries where population is declining such as Korea and Japan and European countries where this is about to happen as well. The book…
on “The End of Economic Growth? Unintended Consequences of a Declining Population [pdf]” ↗Further good reading on this subject: Empty Planet https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/545397/empty-planet...
on “America’s urban rebirth is missing actual births” ↗> Pick up a copy of Empty Planet Haven't read this, thanks for the recommendation. > Once a woman receives enough information and autonomy to make an informed and self-directed choice about when to have children, and how many to have,…
on “The Age of Depopulation” ↗…rates were similar to Africa’s. By the end of this century, he says, they will match Europe’s. Demographically speaking, “this is a very significant and rapid change.” I also highly recommend the book "Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline" on this topic. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/545397/empty-planet...
on “Pushing baby booms to boost economic growth amounts to a Ponzi scheme” ↗…the world is heading by the end of the century. From 2018: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/12/the-sex... From 2022: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/12/the-sex... Empty Planet: https://www.amazon.ca/Empty-Planet-Global-Population-Decline...
on “Sex is going out of fashion?” ↗There are some credible estimates that population on Earth will peak at 8.5-9 Bln. (2050-2070). See: https://www.amazon.com/Empty-Planet-Global-Population-Declin... Historically mid UN projections never turn out to be true. They were either low variant or below that.
on “World Population Growth” ↗…billion people is in doubt. Fertility rates are falling faster than the most aggressive UN estimates in all but a few places. [1][2] [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/22/world/global-population-s... [2] Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline by Darrell Bricker, John Ibbitson
on “Countries are gathering in an effort to stop a biodiversity collapse” ↗…information and autonomy to make an informed and self-directed choice about when to have children, and how many to have, she immediately has fewer of them, and has them later.” https://www.amazon.com/Empty-Planet-Global-Population-Declin... > Our findings suggest that continued trends in female educational attainment and access to contraception will hasten declines in fertility and slow population growth. A sustained…
on “The Coming Labor Shortage Is Not Good News” ↗…Stanley Robinson; ISBN13: 9780316300162) https://www.nealstephenson.com/termination-shock.html (Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson; ISBN13: 9780063028050) https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/545397/empty-planet... (Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline by Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson; ISBN13: 9781984823229) https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691247625/ec... (Economics in America:…
on “Ask HN: What did you read recently? Preferably long form, non-tech” ↗> It is a distinct possibility — highlighted in the recent book, Empty Planet — that global population will decline rather than stabilize in the long run. What happens to economic growth when population growth turns negative? IMO, this is a pretty silly idea. The fundamental…
on “The End of Economic Growth? Unintended Consequences of a Declining Population [pdf]” ↗I don't think it's just anecdotal, some data suggests this is happening. The book 'Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline' talks about this. The only place in the world with high total fertility rate is now subsaharan Africa, even countries you might think have a lot of children don't…
on “There are now more people over sixty-four than children younger than five” ↗he mentions population growth falling due to birth control as an unlikely prediction, but it seems to be where we’re actually headed! There’s a book with a lot of research on this called “ Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline” - they say we’ll hit peak human population in 2050 +/- 10years
on “Who Can Name the Bigger Number? (1999)” ↗