Elon Musk warns of “massive danger” looming over the world

canadatoday:Elon Musk sees himself as the CEO of everything.

As his influence has grown alongside his number of Twitter followers, the Tesla (TSLA) – Get Free Report Chef and SpaceX founder made his voice heard on global issues.

He doesn’t narrow down his areas of interest and his outspoken approach is praised by his followers. He’s established himself as a kind of global CEO.

And China has just given him another opportunity to don his visionary’s hat.

China, the world’s most populous country – home to a sixth of the world’s inhabitants – saw its population decline in 2022. It’s a statistic that has been unheard of for six decades, and demographers say it’s a historic turning point.

The country’s population had doubled since the 1960s to more than 1.4 billion today.

But in 2022, the number of births in China was 9.56 million, the National Bureau of Statistics reported. At the same time, 10.41 million deaths were recorded. The population decline was thus 850,000 people.

Musk calls population decline a “massive threat”

This is a first since 1960-1961 when a famine that began in 1959 killed tens of millions. This famine followed the failure of the economic policies known as the Great Leap Forward.

Paradoxically, this recent decline happened even as China relaxed its birth control policies in recent years. Ten years ago, the Chinese were only allowed to have one child. Since 2021 they are allowed to have three.

This decline, which could last until the end of the century, could seriously damage the economy and the pension system.

For Musk, the Chinese announcements reinforce his warning that the world’s biggest problem is population decline.

“Population collapse is a massive threat to the future of civilization!” the billionaire commented on January 16.

He then highlighted a message from the 2018 World Economic Forum to underscore his warning and, most importantly, to show he was right. In its message, the forum warned of overcrowding, but Musk has estimated for years that the world doesn’t have enough people.

“Even as birth rates fall, overpopulation remains a global challenge,” the World Economic Forum tweeted on April 5, 2018.

“Population collapse is an existential problem for humanity, not overpopulation!” Musk tweeted back on Jan. 17, 2023.

The United Nations has estimated that India should dethrone China as the country with the largest population this year.

In 2019, the UN still believed that China would not reach its peak population until 2031-2032. But since then the fertility rate has plummeted to 1.15 children per woman in 2021, just over half the generational renewal threshold of 2.1.

Many local Chinese authorities have taken measures to encourage couples to procreate.

The southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen has recently started offering a birth bonus and allowances for children up to the age of three. A couple welcoming their first baby will automatically receive 3,000 yuan ($443); They’ll get 10,000 yuan (US$1,476) if it’s their third. In total, a family with three children will receive 37,500 yuan (US$5,536) in bonuses and allowances.

But whether such stimulus can reverse the curve is uncertain. According to a study by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, China’s population could shrink by an average of 1.1% per year. According to the most pessimistic forecasts by these demographers, the country could have a population of just 587 million by 2100, less than half of today’s population.

Though he’s not a demographer, Musk said a few months ago that the Chinese population was going to collapse.

“Most people still think China has a one-child policy. China had its lowest birth date ever last year despite having a three-child policy!” Musk wrote last June. “At current birth rates, China will lose ~40% of people every generation! population collapse.”

In addition to China, the tech tycoon warns of population decline in wealthy countries like Japan.

The cure, he says, is to encourage people to have children. The 51-year-old billionaire is the father of nine children, three of whom were born in late 2021.

Source: www.thestreet.com