We’re in a recession!

I don’t think so.

Yes we are; GDP fell two straight quarters.

That doesn’t mean we’re in a recession

Yes, it does.

OK, let’s say it does. Why should I care if we are in a recession?

Recessions are bad.

Why are they bad?

Because lots of people lose their jobs.

But lots of people are getting jobs right now; we have one of the strongest labor markets ever. So why are recessions bad?

Everyone knows recessions are bad, that’s why they’re called recessions.

Yes, but why are they bad? What’s the big problem?

Well, productivity has recently declined.

Does productivity usually decline in recessions?

No, but it did this time.

But that’s just a coincidence, as you yourself have just admitted. So why are recessions bad?

We have high inflation.

Is inflation usually high during recessions?

No, but it is this time.

But that’s just a coincidence, as you yourself have just admitted. So why are recessions bad? I need an answer.

You just don’t want to admit that we are in a recession!

Sigh . . .

PS. Perhaps were are experiencing a banana.

China’s population appears to have peaked last year at just under 1.413 billion, and has begun what is expected to be a protracted decline to 587 million at the end of the century. By that time, Nigeria will have more people than China.

India’s population is now 1.408 billion, as is rising at about 14 million per year. Thus India is just a few months away from having the world’s largest population. It’s population is expected to exceed 1.65 billion people in the early 2060s, before falling back to 1.45 billion at the end of the century:

Just imagine if British India had not been partitioned; they’d now have 1.8 billion people!

These forecasts are subject to charge. Forecasts of China’s future population have been dramatically trimmed in just the past three years, due to an unexpectedly rapid reduction in their birth rate. It’s also hard to predict how much immigration China will receive in the distant future. If it becomes a first world country, then I’d expect China to import workers to do the jobs that the Chinese don’t wish to do.

It is also very difficult to predict the US population in 2100, as that mostly depends on future decisions we make regarding immigration. If we were serious about competing with China (we are not), we’d accept 100 million high skilled immigrants from China.

The following statement was published in a China news outlet:

China is struggling to overcome young people’s growing reluctance to start families. Over the past year, the government has launched an unprecedented drive to push couples to have more kids, raising the birth limit and introducing a range of policies to support new parents. So far, however, the measures appear to be having almost no effect.

That has to be one of the funniest things I’ve ever read, right up there with Trump saying no one respects women more than he does. AFAIK, China is the only country that limits how many children a woman is allowed to have. To call legal limits on childbirth an “unprecedented drive” for more kids, is like Trump saying he has unprecedented respect for women when he grabs their private parts.

The Chinese government may have its reasons, but to an outsider like me their entire policy regime seems bizarre.

I often see people say the world has too many people or too few people. But they never tell me how they know this. How many people would be optimal? Is it 6,712,334,233 people, or 8,913,212,793 people? Or is it 12,382,008,113 people? Be specific. And how do you know which is the right number? (BTW, the animal kingdom might vote zero as the optimal figure.)

I’m agnostic on population—I acknowledge my ignorance as to the optimal population. My focus is on making the world a better place for those who are here, and those who will be here in the foreseeable future. As for the very long run, who really knows anything?

PS. Scott Alexander is also agnostic.