ECON 218 Population Economics (Same as Environmental Studies 218) (Not offered 1999-2000)

This course will present an overview of the causes and consequences of population growth in the world's poorer countries. One aim will be to understand how policy initiatives in combination with changes in human behavior led to an explosion in the number of human beings from about 100 million in the early-nineteenth century to over 5 billion today. We will study both sides of the population boom story: the vast improvement in health conditions that resulted in a rapid decline in rates of death, and the much slower reduction in rates of birth that have only recently begun to reach levels that will stabilize population size. Following this we will examine two very important consequences of population growth: (1) migration and urbanization-large scale movements of human beings from areas of limited opportunity to regions where they believe they will have access to a better life, and (2) the impact of population growth on the environment-on greenhouse emissions, global warming and resource scarcity.
Prerequisite: Economics 101. Enrollment limited to 40.