Dirk Dorworth, in his column "The Ideology of Growth," from the July 22 issue, offers a citation from Paul Ehrlich in support of his contention that the world population is exploding "geometrically." Ehrlich is a rather curious choice for such validation.
Ehrlich, a devotee of population explosion and resource depletion, was challenged to a wager by economist Julian Simon in 1980. Simon argued that if Ehrlich was correct and more people were chasing fewer resources, it must follow that the prices of commodities must rise. Ehrlich took the bait. They chose five resources to track over the next decade, with Simon taking the position that the prices of these commodities would fall. Ehrlich lost the bet, paid up and chose not to renew the wager. Wise move, as 15 years later the results were confirmed in a follow-up study in The Journal of International Business and Cultural Studies.
The Malthusians, like Ehrlich and Dorworth, fail to appreciate the ingenuity inherent in the human condition, which responds to scarcity and resulting higher prices with innovation and resourcefulness.
This creativity is the source of the ever-increasing abundance the human condition has been blessed with. This inventiveness is why life keeps getting better and longer, the wealth creators will eventually nullify our present recession and Ehrlich lost his gamble.
Martin B. Erdheim
Elkhorn