Last night the BBC had a "Newsnight" programme in which the presenter, Jeremy Paxman, was discussing what was going to happen in the coming few decades as China advances to have a similar level of per capita wealth to western countries.
So what happens when India and China are as developed as the West? If the per capita production of India and China were the same as the UK then global industrial production would be about 5 times higher than today. Economists, journalists and politicians who seriously discuss this possibility as a realistic outcome should be sacked immediately. At 5 times the current industrial output even world resources with a 200 year lifetime at present would last about 40 years. Pollution would be 5 to 10 times higher. We would all die within 40 years.
Global mineral reserves - are we running out?
The limits to growth - the end of the world as we know it?
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