Evil Diaries: Population

A few weeks ago, the national treasure, Sir David Attenborough, emphasised the need for the world’s population to decrease. He declined to commit suicide to prove that he was sincere. I think we can forgive him.

However, in last weekend’s Spectator, a Professor of Economics at Stanford, Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde, drew his readers’ attention to an extraordinary fact: the world’s population seems already to be decreasing. For instance at the extreme end, in South Korea, each woman can be expected to have about 0.52 children. Simply to keep the population constant, absence immigration, requires 2.1.

Further, Sir Partha Dasgupta, a Cambridge professor of economics thinks that the world’s population should decline to 3.3bn from its current 8.2bn. if the world is to renew its required resources no faster than it uses them. I expect he knows what he is talking about.

I should be dead in good time before those working to pay me my pension are overwhelmed by the demand for their cash.

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About forty year ago I went to the northwest tip of Wales to look at Anglesey Mining’s prospects. I did not see much. But since I was very long of warrants felt very cheered. I made several tens of thousands of pounds.

Nothing happened and, blow me down, forty years later, there is still no production despite goodness knows how many subsequent placings. But it is still getting the full puff – see last Saturday’s Times.

I had met in Zambia the mine manager for Anglesey Mining, about thirteen years earlier at the Mufulira mine. His name was Malcolm Swallow. An agreeable cove.

Ten days after visiting the Mufulira mine some three thousand feet down the mine flooded. About three hundred men were instantly drowned as mud and water from the surface rushed into the cathedral which housed the main winding engines. As it happens Malcolm mentioned down there as he showed us around Mufulira that there had been an ingress of water and grass (repeat: grass) the previous evening. 

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As has been my practice in recent times I would be delighted to give tutorials covering investment at my home in Brook Green. Bring your children if you will. There is disgustingly agreeable chocolate cake and other diversions to hand. Telephone 020 7835 0868.