9/23/11

• Is the natural world better or worse?
• Bodies of water and air in America and Europe are cleaner
•  Resources are more plentiful than in the past globally
• Takes less land to produce more crops
• Forests are larger than 60 years ago
• Has becoming richer made us happier?
• Layard did a study:in some places where people have incomes beyond 15Gs, they don't become happier with more dollars
• Happiness has been seen to arise from social and political gains
• No concrete correlation between increased incomes and happiness
• GDP per capita growth
• Highest growth was during 1950-1973 at 2.5% growth
• 2000-2010 has been the Developing World's Best Decade Ever
• Industrial Revolution = Commercial Revolution
• Transition period from no change to accelerated change
• Countries affected differently from each other
• Economic growth=Extensive growth= population becomes richer but individuals not affected
• Classical Theory
• More people leads to faster usage of productivity
• Modern Theory
• Advancements in tech. knowledge, and human capital allows productivity to outrun population
• Child quality vs. child quantity
• net transfer from older to younger generation
• Fertility rates
• rate=2 .1
• Falling across the world
• Poor countries' rate went from 6 to 3
• Europe's rate halved
• Most of the world only meets the replacement rate now
• If it continues, population will be at 9 billion by mid century
• Intellectual Stepping Stones of the IR
• Chinese invented printing press
• Romans invented first steam engine
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