Want to Help Fight Climate Change? Have More Children

Another great Tyler Cowen article:

Want to Help Fight Climate Change? Have More Children

To put those worries out of mind, ask yourself a simple question: Is the remedy for climate change, to the extent we find one, more likely to come from North America or New Zealand? Obviously, the wealthier and more populous America is a more likely source of technological innovation, even though it is also a more significant source of greenhouse gases. So if you think progress in this fight is possible at all, you ought to be betting on the more populous nations. By having more children, you are making your nation more populous — thus boosting its capacity to solve the problem.

But even if your kid doesn’t grow up to be a leading scientist or environmental crusader, she may still have a real impact. More people, according to Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Romer, create bigger markets for innovations. There are more medicines for common diseases than for rare diseases, precisely because market size is larger. By having more kids, you are increasing the demand for remedies to climate change. For instance, there are significant fixed costs to coming up with higher-quality electric cars or better solar panels. Investors put money into these areas only because they hope to sell a lot of units. Your children will help boost demand.

So people without kids are doing the environment the most harm? :thinking:

Yes. The ones who went to the sperm bank and created 50+ children are the true unsung heros.

That is one of the most idiotic things I’ve seen today. It’s right up there with the actor from “Empire” having charges dropped for creating a fake hate crime. The DA’s office said his “service to the community” and forfeiting $10k bail is good enough. Oh, and the media reported Trump met with a Russian, since the Washington Capitals visited the White House.

We are both a consumer and a productive entity.

1 Like

Cowen has some sound arguments. You want a problem solved? Increase the number of problem solvers. Oh, and increase the prize money for solving the problem.

I think Cowen is planning on a Solent Green factory