The population clock

This week Phil challenges Steve on how the futures market handles terminal risk, pointing out that oil prices slope downward over time simply because traders blindly assume the Strait of Hormuz will reopen. Steve agrees and tears into the financial sector, explaining that modern ...  Show more

This week Phil and Steve dismantle the structural shift of the global economy toward a permanent state of debt dependence. Following a critique of Steve’s recent debate on the Piers Morgan show and a revisit to last week’s discussion on th link between energy and productivity, th ...  Show more

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 ...

Over the past century, the world's human population has exploded from around 2 billion to 8 billion. Meanwhile, the average fertility rate has gradually declined. And if that trend continues as it has, we may soon see a crash in the population rate, which some argue could have di ...  Show more

On estime qu'environ 117 milliards d'humains sont nés sur Terre depuis l'apparition de l'espèce Homo sapiens, il y a environ 200 000 ans. Ce chiffre impressionnant provient d'estimations basées sur les taux de natalité, de mortalité et la croissance démographique à travers les ...

The Population Bomb, published by Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich in 1968, predicted that populations would grow more quickly than food supplies, causing mass starvation. Ehrlich was wrong: food supplies kept pace. And that’s largely due to the years Norman Borlaug spent growing ...  Show more