George Bush Is Contributing to World Poverty

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http://www.sitnews.us/CagleColumns/082505_william_ryerson.html


By William N. Ryerson



August 25, 2005
Thursday


Apologists for the Bush Administration are making claims that rapid rates of population growth somehow stimulate economic growth. The contention is that rapid rates of population growth stimulate consumerism and that the added demand fuels economic growth.

Actually, the opposite is true. The economies of many developing countries are being crippled by the fact that a high percentage of personal and national income is spent on the immediate consumption needs of food, housing and clothing - because there are too many children dependent on each working adult - leaving little income available to form investment capital.

Lack of investment capital depresses growth of productivity of industry and leads to high unemployment (which is exacerbated by rapid growth in the numbers of people seeking non-existent jobs). Lack of capital also contributes to a country's inability to invest in environmental protection, education, government infrastructure and other areas that can contribute to the long-term productivity of the economy and living standards of the people.

Herman Daly, former senior economist at the World Bank, believes that this applies to developing countries worldwide. Simply put, if the assertions by the Bush Administration and other conservatives were true, the slow-population-growth countries of Europe and North America would have weak economies, while the economies of sub-Saharan Africa and the high-population-growth countries of Asia and Latin America would be robust.

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