Always wrong but never in doubt. Welcome to the-end-is-always-near world of Paul R. Ehrlich, where humans are the problem–or at least everyone that does not see what the neo-Malthusians warn against. The land of the living dead–something to think about this Halloween.

I was reminded of neo-Malthusianism come Halloween 2025 upon rereading a piece in the (Progressive Left) The Guardian, “Paul Ehrlich: ‘Collapse of Civilisation Is a Near Certainty Within Decades‘”, published eight years ago (March 2018).

“Fifty years after the publication of his controversial book The Population Bomb, biologist Paul Ehrlich warns overpopulation and overconsumption are driving us over the edge,” the subtitle of Damian Carrington article states. He continues:

A shattering collapse of civilisation is a “near certainty” in the next few decades due to humanity’s continuing destruction of the natural world that sustains all life on Earth, according to biologist Prof Paul Ehrlich.

Editor’s Note: This book review was published just short of 20 years ago in The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics [Vol. 8, No. 3 (FALL 2005): 93–95] by Pierre Desrochers of the University of Toronto.

“Austrian economists have so far contributed very little to energy studies…. This book could therefore go a long way in providing a new set of concrete economic examples and principles for use in classroom discussions.”

Despite its obvious economic and social importance, energy (broadly understood) is an understudied field. True, among academics, one can find several engineers and geologists, along with some economists, geographers, legal scholars, and political scientists, who devote much of their research efforts to devising and/or analyzing various energy-related technologies, supply sources, markets, and institutions.

By and large, however, very few individuals have tried to understand how all the various parts of the energy puzzle fit—or not—together, and much—if not most—of the public discussion of the issue is agenda-driven and ignorant of basic physical and economic principles.…

In Memoriam, Thomas Roger DeGregori (1935–2025)

Pierre Desrochers

Tom DeGregori, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Houston whose work has been discussed on a few occasions on this blog, passed away a few days ago. Thousands of people knew him better than me (we only met twice), but he became an occasional correspondent nearly three decades ago after I had serendipitously come across his work on technological change on the bookshelves of the Université de Montréal while researching my doctoral dissertation.

I was hooked and tried to get my hands on anything he had published in defense of human creativity and material progress, including modern agriculture. At first my readings were limited to his articles in the Journal of Economic Issues and other academic outlets then available at my alma mater.…

On social media, Christopher Nguyen gave praises for the retreat (surrender?) of Just Stop Oil, a development reported last week at MasterResource. He should know, being a UKer (Scotland).

He wrote:

No more roadblocks, no more anti-art actions, no more helping UN’s Net Zero “inspired” politicians legislate or promote:
🚫🚗Clean Air Zones, (Ultra) Low Emission Zones (Anti-motorist Zones), 15 minute cities, 20 minute neighbourhoods,
🚫🥩🍼meat and dairy exclusionary contracts,
🚫✈️flight shaming,
🚫🧥shaming buying clothes,
🚫🐮🐶carbon taxes.

Praise God. Let us rejoice!
___________________________________
One leg down. More to come down.
Do you comply with the Net Zero Carbon consumption targets?
🚫🍼Absolute Zero dairy
🚫🥩Absolute Zero meat
🚫👗3 items of clothing per year
🚫✈️1 return flight per 3 years
🚫🚗Absolute Zero private vehicles

Source:The Future of Urban Consumption in a 1.5°C World, 2019, c40 cities, p.78, 82, 86, 90 https://lnkd.in/ejhTfy8N…