By nearly every measure of well-being, from infant mortality and life expectancy to educational level and caloric intake, life in Africa, Asia, and Latin America has been getting dramatically better. According to the World Bank, the average income in the developing world has doubled since 1960. Enough grain is produced for every person on earth to consume 3,500 calories daily. There is no need for anyone to starve in the midst of this plenty. Population has doubled since 1960, but world food and resource production has never been higher.
Economies continue to expand, productivity is up, and pollution is declining.
Life spans are lengthening, poverty is down, and political freedom is growing. The human race has never been so well off. In fact, underpopulation, not overpopulation, is the threat facing the world. By the beginning of 2000, over seventy countries representing over half the world's population will have below replacement fertility defined as 2.1 children per woman. The populations of the developed nations today are static or declining.