10 Billion Strong

Dwindling Resources

Estimates are out from the United Nations that the earth's population will be 10 billion by mid century. Can that be sustained?


According to research published in 2011 by Live Science, 10 billion people is the uppermost population limit where food is concerned. Because it's extremely unlikely that everyone will agree to stop eating meat, Wilson thinks the maximum carrying capacity of the Earth based on food resources will most likely fall short of 10 billion.


By the middle of this century parts of the world will be experiencing some serious shortages. According to a report on NPR, "Already, roughly 800 million people go to bed hungry, according to this 2015 U.N. report. It says a full one-third of the world's food is wasted every year. If just a quarter of it could be recovered, it would be enough to feed 870 million people."

Income Inequality

To survive it is going to take a greater sharing of resources, but is that really going to happen? USA Today reported a couple of days ago that a new billionaire is created every other day. "Previous Oxfam reports have shown the world's richest 1% own more wealth than the rest of the global population combined, a trend that is reaffirmed in the latest report from Oxfam. "Oxfam said the massive inequality is being driven by factors that include excessive financial returns to company owners and shareholders at the expense of ordinary workers and the rest of the economy; the ability of rich individuals and corporations to use tax havens that allow them to evade or shield trillions of dollars from tax authorities; public policy that permits market conditions that push down wages and infringe on labor rights; and extreme wealth that is inherited, not earned." (USA Today - Inequality Crisis)


Previous reports from Oxfam show the world’s richest 1% own more wealth than the rest of the global population combined, a trend that is reaffirmed in the latest edition. A report from The Institute for Policy Studies, a think tank, warned in November that President Trump’s tax reforms would “exacerbate existing wealth disparities.”

Investing in Ourselves

Sharing the wealth is a big part of the discussion in Davos this week. French President Emmanuel Macron told the global elite to invest, share and protect to reign in the excesses of global capitalism. He stated the framework should be on cooperation and multilateralism.

You can read more about his speech at Bloomberg's website.