The Principle of Population for the 21st Century: The Never Coming Stationary State

Martin Machay ()
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Martin Machay: School of Business Administration, Silesian University

No 2012-18, MENDELU Working Papers in Business and Economics from Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics

Abstract: One of the most enchanting areas in economics is the forward thinking. While Malthus and Ricardo agreed on the gloomy vision of the future, Mill described the wider stationary state and foresaw it in a more optimistic way. Space sciences and improvements in our technology provided us with the solution decades ago, although economics did not notice this possible solution of the classical stationary state until now. This article incorporates this knowledge into economics. Calories integrate the supply of means of production and the demand for means of consumption in one market. The stationary state could come only if the demand for means of subsistence grows faster than the supply of means of production. Increasing scarcity of free calories exceeding the minimal required volume of it preventing the malnutrition and death will push the calorie price up while economy will move towards the stationary state. But where to take the land when the very last piece of it - even the deserts - will be already cultivated? Increasing scarcity of land opens possibility for firms to make profit from producing land. Thus, the classical stationary state is only an illusion.

Keywords: stationary state; terraforming; food; population growth; nutrition; space economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J11 Q11 Q15 Q21 Y90 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 20
Date: 2012-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hpe
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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