The WSJ had a front page article today on fears of running out of resources. They say water is hard to find substitutes for. The difference in water consumption per calorie or protein unit between meat and grains is enormous. A cultural shift to vegatarianism not only provides a big substitute for scarce water, but also results in enhanced global health. Economics, as usual, can drive this cultural shift. It's nice to have an easy solution to this problem, drive by economics, with ancillary BENEFITS.
Then there is energy. At least in the United States, it is impossible to imagine that in a future of high bandwidth and high resolution video conferencing that people will still spend time in steel boxes commuting to sit in larger steel boxes to do what can be done electronically. Another substitute with ancially BENEFITS (commuting is one of those few things that doesn't exhibit hedonic adaptation).
My favorite quote from the article:
"history is littered with examples of societies believed to have suffered Malthusian crises: the Mayans of Central America, the Anasazi of the US Southwest, and the people of Easter Island."
Pretty powerful stuff.
There is a problem that the very poor are experiencing rapid inflation since they have a very high food weighting in their basket. Perhaps we should focus on how to make them rich enough to afford food.
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