Empty Planet

“An ambitious reimagining of our demographic future.”—The New York Times Book Review For half a century, statisticians, pundits, and politicians have warned that a burgeoning population will soon overwhelm the earth’s resources. But a growing number of experts are sounding a different alarm. Rather than continuing to increase exponentially, they argue, the global population is headed for a steep decline—and in many countries, that decline has already begun. In Empty Planet, international social researcher Darrell Bricker and award-winning journalist John Ibbitson find that a smaller global population will bring with it many benefits: Fewer workers will command higher wages, the environment will improve, the risk of famine will wane, and falling birthrates in the developing world will bring greater affluence and autonomy for women. But enormous disruption lies ahead, too. The United States and Canada are well positioned to successfully navigate these coming demographic shifts—unless growing isolationism leads us to close ourselves off just as openness becomes more critical to our survival than ever. Rigorously researched and deeply compelling, Empty Planet offers a vision of the future that we can no longer prevent—but one that we can shape, if we choose.