Sustainable growth requires effective population control
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
E. Haque
WITHOUT limiting population growth, it would be simply impossible for Bangladeshis to enjoy substantially increased per capita income in the future regardless of how well the economy grows.
One example should make it clearer. The per capita income in United States of America is $ 46,716 whereas the same is $2,912 for China. Thus, the resources for spending available to the average American is sixteen times more than the average Chinese. China has been enjoying well over double digit economic growth unmatched by other countries for decades; it presently has foreign currency reserves worth trillions of dollars and here also other countries are no match for the Chinese. Why then the Chinese per capita income is so low which is seen in the low standards of living suffered by a vast number of the Chinese people in comparison to the much higher standard of living enjoyed by people in the USA and Western Europe ?
The reason is the sheer number of the Chinese people. Unmatched high economic growth, very high productivity levels, unsurpassed export performance year after year, etc., have pinned many distinctions for brilliant performance on the Chinese economy. The total economic pie or NNP of China has been boosted to great heights. But when it comes to sharing the pie among all members in the population, the individual share or the income per capita comes to a meager amount by the standards of the developed countries.
China's total population of at about 1.3 billion people dwarfs most other countries. The developed countries are required to carve up their large net national incomes among their populations which are far less than that of China. For example, the USA has a population which is no more than two twentieth of that of China. Therefore, the average American can enjoy a far bigger per capita income than the average Chinese.
The policy planners in Bangladesh must put a far greater emphasis on population control. This has become an absolute imperative for the country to consolidate the gains from the economic advances it is making in different spheres. Population control is a neglected area in Bangladesh today when it should be among the highest priorities of the government and the people of Bangladesh.
There are only clichés to state that the large population of Bangladesh is not a liability and that Bangladeshis in millions can swiftly be turned into productive persons. These will not quite prevent the economic catastrophes to be faced by the country from allowing its already overpopulated conditions to turn even worse. All efforts to conquer poverty on a sustainable basis in Bangladesh will be rendered fruitless in the long run if the population is allowed to grow at the present rate.
WITHOUT limiting population growth, it would be simply impossible for Bangladeshis to enjoy substantially increased per capita income in the future regardless of how well the economy grows.
One example should make it clearer. The per capita income in United States of America is $ 46,716 whereas the same is $2,912 for China. Thus, the resources for spending available to the average American is sixteen times more than the average Chinese. China has been enjoying well over double digit economic growth unmatched by other countries for decades; it presently has foreign currency reserves worth trillions of dollars and here also other countries are no match for the Chinese. Why then the Chinese per capita income is so low which is seen in the low standards of living suffered by a vast number of the Chinese people in comparison to the much higher standard of living enjoyed by people in the USA and Western Europe ?
The reason is the sheer number of the Chinese people. Unmatched high economic growth, very high productivity levels, unsurpassed export performance year after year, etc., have pinned many distinctions for brilliant performance on the Chinese economy. The total economic pie or NNP of China has been boosted to great heights. But when it comes to sharing the pie among all members in the population, the individual share or the income per capita comes to a meager amount by the standards of the developed countries.
China's total population of at about 1.3 billion people dwarfs most other countries. The developed countries are required to carve up their large net national incomes among their populations which are far less than that of China. For example, the USA has a population which is no more than two twentieth of that of China. Therefore, the average American can enjoy a far bigger per capita income than the average Chinese.
The policy planners in Bangladesh must put a far greater emphasis on population control. This has become an absolute imperative for the country to consolidate the gains from the economic advances it is making in different spheres. Population control is a neglected area in Bangladesh today when it should be among the highest priorities of the government and the people of Bangladesh.
There are only clichés to state that the large population of Bangladesh is not a liability and that Bangladeshis in millions can swiftly be turned into productive persons. These will not quite prevent the economic catastrophes to be faced by the country from allowing its already overpopulated conditions to turn even worse. All efforts to conquer poverty on a sustainable basis in Bangladesh will be rendered fruitless in the long run if the population is allowed to grow at the present rate.