Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan
“Six months ago, I’m not sure that I’d ever heard of demographer Lyman Stone. Now, people in my circles randomly drop his name on a weekly basis. His favorite topic, in case you haven’t heard, is global fertility decline. As a longtime natalist, I share his concerns. One of Stone’s top takeaways: Instead of talking about the social dangers of low fertility, natalists should talk about the fact that women are failing to achieve their personally desired fertility. … While I sympathize, Stone’s argument about fertility versus desired fertility instantly reminds me of a parallel debate about government spending versus desired government spending. … As Eva Mueller pointed out 60 years ago, public support for government spending sharply declines if you merely mention the banal fact that spending requires taxes.” (11/26/24)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/desired-fertility-versus-the-mueller