ABSTRACT
Most public debate on the subject of population and the environmental crisis is highly conditioned by the incompatible sets of assumptions held by the opposing sides of the argument. One side assumes that there is a serious overpopulation crisis from which there is no escape. The oases of plenty in the richer countries will, in the not-so-distant future, be overrun by the deprived majority living in the poorest countries of the world. Whatever policies the richer countries might now adopt on international aid and freer immigration and trade policies, it is already too late to accommodate the continuing population explosion.
