015: Throwing Money and Ideology at the Population Timebomb

While it’s generally agreed that the global population is continuing to expand (at least until flatlining at the end of the century) for some parts of the world it is falling dangerously precipitously with the potential for severe economic and security impacts. 

For the wealthy elite of Silicon Valley, this is an ideological failing, one that their blogs and op-eds are ready to tackle with shady conferences that have a whiff of something mid-century Europe about them, and not in the nice furniture way. For others, it’s an opportunity to throw (quite a lot) of money at the problem and see what sticks. 

Links:

• With new ordinance, Santa Fe becomes first city to tie minimum wage to rental costs, Albuquerque Journal: https://www.abqjournal.com/news/with-new-ordinance-santa-fe-becomes-first-city-to-tie-minimum-wage-to-rental-costs/2893470
• Fertility rate falls to lowest globally, Taipei Times: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2026/01/10/2003850357
• South Korea birthrate rises for the first time in nine years, AlJazeera: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/26/south-korea-birthrate-rises-for-the-first-time-in-nine-years
• Does the U.S. Have a Fertility Crisis? Johns Hopkins: https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2026/is-the-us-birth-rate-declining
• The Ultimate status symbol? A big family, Financial Times: https://www.ft.com/content/a4025e93-7552-4f8f-8ce2-e785a7d950a4
• The influencers who want the world to have more babies - and say the White House is on their side, BBC News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5ypdy05jl9o
• Elon wants you to have more babies, Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2024-elon-musk-population-collapse-baby-push/
• The Far Right’s Plan to Explode the Population, Politico: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/04/28/natalism-conference-austin-00150338
• Your baby could qualify for $1,000 with a Trump Account. Here’s what to know, Associated Press: https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2026/your-baby-could-qualify-for-1000-with-a-trump-account-heres-what-to-know/
• National child care policy 2.0 for ages 0-6, Executive Yuan: https://english.ey.gov.tw/News3/9E5540D592A5FECD/7b033800-d295-4a7a-8fba-dfbf617142d6
• What birth rate crisis? Here’s how one city in Taiwan is bucking the island’s worrying trend, Straits Times: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/chips-powerhouse-hsinchu-a-bright-spot-amid-taiwans-birth-rate-crisis
• The Impact of the Real Estate Market on Fertility, NBER: https://www.nber.org/digest/feb12/impact-real-estate-market-fertility?page=1&perPage=50
• A South Korean firm is offering to pay its workers $75,000 each time they have a baby, CNN: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/06/business/south-korea-firm-child-cash-payout-intl-hnk
• Following Booyoung, Krafton to Offer 100 Mil. Won Childbirth Incentive to Employees, BusinessKorea: https://www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=235577
• It’s Me, Hi, I’m the Problem I’m 33, New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/02/business/economy/33-year-olds-millennials.html