Empty Planet
The Shock of Global Population Decline
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Narrated by:
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Robert Petkoff
About this listen
An award-winning journalist and leading international social researcher make the provocative argument that the global population will soon begin to decline, dramatically reshaping the social, political, and economic landscape.
For half a century, statisticians, pundits, and politicians have warned that a burgeoning population will soon overwhelm the earth's resources. But a growing number of experts are sounding a different alarm. Rather than continuing to increase exponentially, they argue, the global population is headed for a steep decline - and in many countries, that decline has already begun.
In Empty Planet, John Ibbitson and Darrell Bricker find that a smaller global population will bring with it many benefits: fewer workers will command higher wages; the environment will improve; the risk of famine will wane; and falling birthrates in the developing world will bring greater affluence and autonomy for women.
But enormous disruption lies ahead, too. We can already see the effects in Europe and parts of Asia, as aging populations and worker shortages weaken the economy and impose crippling demands on healthcare and social security. The United States and Canada are well-positioned to successfully navigate these coming demographic shifts - that is, unless growing isolationism leads us to close ourselves off just as openness becomes more critical to our survival than ever.
Rigorously researched and deeply compelling, Empty Planet offers a vision of a future that we can no longer prevent - but one that we can shape, if we choose.
Praise for Empty Planet
“An ambitious reimagining of our demographic future.” (The New York Times Book Review)
“The authors combine a mastery of social-science research with enough journalistic flair to convince fair-minded readers of a simple fact: Fertility is falling faster than most experts can readily explain, driven by persistent forces.” (The Wall Street Journal)
“The beauty of this book is that it links hard-to-grasp global trends to the easy to-understand individual choices being made all over the world today . . . a gripping narrative of a world on the cusp of profound change.” (The New Statesman)
©2019 Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson (P)2019 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“Arresting...lucid, trenchant and very readable, the authors' arguments upend consensus ideas about everything from the environment to immigration; the result is a stimulating challenge to conventional wisdom." (Publishers Weekly)
“Warnings of catastrophic world overpopulation have filled the media since the 1960s, so this expert, well-researched explanation that it's not happening will surprise many readers...delightfully stimulating.” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)
"Thanks to the authors’ painstaking fact-finding and cogent analysis, [Empty Planet] offers ample and persuasive arguments for a re-evaluation of conventional wisdom." (Booklist)
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By: Angus Deaton
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This Land Is Our Land
- An Immigrant's Manifesto
- By: Suketu Mehta
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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A timely argument for why the US and the West would benefit from accepting more immigrants. Impassioned, rigorous, and richly stocked with memorable stories and characters, This Land Is Our Land is a timely and necessary intervention and a literary polemic of the highest order.
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Greatly informative. wonderful narrated
- By ADEDZWA Dooyum Sartor on 06-29-19
By: Suketu Mehta
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Arguing with Socialists
- By: Glenn Beck
- Narrated by: Glenn Beck, Jeremy Lowell
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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In Arguing with Socialists, New York Times best-selling author Glenn Beck arms listeners to the teeth with information necessary to debunk the socialist arguments that have once again become popular, and proves that the free market is the only way to go. With his trademark humor, Beck lampoons the resurgence of this bankrupt leftist philosophy with thousands of stories, facts, and arguments for anyone who is willing to ask the hard questions.
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Its great...whatever
- By Jon on 04-08-20
By: Glenn Beck
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The Complacent Class
- The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream
- By: Tyler Cowen
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Since Alexis de Tocqueville, restlessness has been accepted as a signature American trait. Our willingness to move, take risks, and adapt to change have produced a dynamic economy and a tradition of innovation from Ben Franklin to Steve Jobs. The problem, according to legendary blogger, economist, and best-selling author Tyler Cowen, is that Americans today have broken from this tradition - we're working harder than ever to avoid change.
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MUST READ
- By RJW on 05-06-17
By: Tyler Cowen
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Ethnic America
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: James Bundy
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Thomas Sowell provides us with a useful and concise record tracing the history of nine ethnic groups: Irish, Germans, Jews, Italians, Chinese, Japanese, Blacks, Puerto Ricans, and Mexicans.
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Understanding the ethnic tapestry of America
- By Amazon Customer on 12-23-19
By: Thomas Sowell
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The 9.9 Percent
- The New Aristocracy That Is Entrenching Inequality and Warping Our Culture
- By: Matthew Stewart
- Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In 21st century America, the top 0.1 percent of the wealth distribution have walked away with the big prizes even while the bottom 90 percent have lost ground. What’s left of the American Dream has taken refuge in the 9.9 percent that lies just below the tip of extreme wealth. Collectively, the members of this group control more than half of the wealth in the country - and they are doing whatever it takes to hang on to their piece of the action in an increasingly unjust system.
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Fantastic
- By Davena on 01-05-23
By: Matthew Stewart
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After America
- Get Ready for Armageddon
- By: Mark Steyn
- Narrated by: Mark Steyn
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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In his giant New York Times best seller, America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It, Mark Steyn predicted collapse for the rest of the Western World. Now, he adds, America has caught up with Europe on the great rush to self-destruction. What will a world without American leadership look like? It won’t be pretty—not for you and not for your children. America’s decline won’t be gradual, like an aging Europe sipping espresso at a café until extinction. No, America’s decline will be a wrenching affair marked by violence and possibly secession.
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Facts
- By Peter on 11-11-11
By: Mark Steyn
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It's Better Than It Looks
- By: Gregg Easterbrook
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Most people who pay attention to the news would tell you that 2017 is one of the worst years in recent memory. We're facing a series of deeply troubling, even existential problems: fascism, terrorism, environmental collapse, racial and economic inequality, and more. Yet this narrative misses something important: by almost every meaningful measure, the modern world is better than it ever has been. In the United States, disease, crime, discrimination, and most forms of pollution are in long-term decline, while longevity and education keep rising.
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Too political
- By Anonymous User on 07-12-18
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Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism
- By: Anne Case, Angus Deaton
- Narrated by: Kate Harper
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Life expectancy in the United States has recently fallen for three years in a row - a reversal not seen since 1918 or in any other wealthy nation in modern times. In the past two decades, deaths of despair from suicide, drug overdose, and alcoholism have risen dramatically, and now claim hundreds of thousands of American lives each year - and they're still rising. Case and Deaton, known for first sounding the alarm about deaths of despair, explain the overwhelming surge in these deaths and shed light on the social and economic forces that are making life harder for the working class.
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So many words, so little insight
- By Trebla on 03-22-20
By: Anne Case, and others
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Age of Discovery
- Navigating the Risks and Rewards of Our New Renaissance
- By: Ian Goldin, Chris Kutarna
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Age of Discovery explores a world on the brink of a new Renaissance and asks: how do we share more widely the benefits of unprecedented progress? How do we endure the inevitable tumult generated by accelerating change? How do we each thrive through this tangled, uncertain time? From gains in health, education, wealth and technology to crises of conflict, disease and mass migration, the similarities between today's world and that of the 15th century are both striking and prophetic: we have been here before.
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A monotonous text disguised as casual reading.
- By Rob on 07-29-16
By: Ian Goldin, and others
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This Brave New World
- India, China and the United States
- By: Anja Manuel
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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In the next decade and a half, China and India will become two of the world's indispensable powers - whether they rise peacefully or not. During that time, Asia will surpass the combined strength of North America and Europe in economic might, population size, and military spending. Both India and China will have vetoes over many international decisions, from climate change to global trade, human rights, and business standards.
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Good book, could be better
- By General on 09-23-16
By: Anja Manuel
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Discrimination and Disparities
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Discrimination and Disparities challenges believers in such one-factor explanations of economic outcome differences as discrimination, exploitation, or genetics. It is listenable enough for people with no prior knowledge of economics. Yet the empirical evidence with which it backs up its analysis spans the globe and challenges beliefs across the ideological spectrum.
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Hard Pill To Swallow - I’m better for it
- By Charles on 01-14-19
By: Thomas Sowell
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The Upswing
- How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again
- By: Robert D. Putnam, Shaylyn Romney Garrett - contributor
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Deep and accelerating inequality; unprecedented political polarization; vitriolic public discourse; a fraying social fabric; public and private narcissism — Americans today seem to agree on only one thing: This is the worst of times. But we’ve been here before. During the Gilded Age of the late 1800s, America was highly individualistic, starkly unequal, fiercely polarized, and deeply fragmented, just as it is today.
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For Progressives only. Won't make sense otherwise
- By Dennis G. on 12-19-20
By: Robert D. Putnam, and others
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What listeners say about Empty Planet
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Melanie Cotter
- 09-10-23
Very informative and enjoyable
Information needed by so many. I hope people will listen with open minds & take action.
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- Tarzan & Jane
- 04-10-19
Fascinating stuff
I'm a little biased toward this idea since I agree Earth can't support this many people, and people believe what they want to.
But the book puts out some very interesting theories, ideas and facts. If you at all enjoyed An Inconvenient Truth, or other environmental media, you'll love this book. It gets into numbers and statistics in the middle, so it kinda drags, but hey, that's research. The authors also break it down into broad strokes, so anyone can understand.
The book does get a little subjective at points, understandably; but the objective quality outweighs the op-ed sections.
Also it's written by Canadians and who doesn't love them!
I really hope this book's theories are right.
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- Ellen Clifford
- 09-12-21
Empty Planet
This book gave me much to think about and the future looks promising. So many concepts I had never thought about before.
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- McConnell
- 09-10-20
Good topic that doesn't get talked about enough.
Good tooic that doesn't get talked about enough, but it gets preachy in the last couple of chapters, and the authors are determined throughout that immigration is the only thing that can help (kind of the whole point of the book) even though the book thoroughly discredits this approach over the long term. There should have been more avenues pursued that could lead to a sustained Goldilocks stage.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Corth
- 03-18-21
hated the ending
I really really enjoyed this book until the last chapter. the book was so full and facts and information that really made me think. then the last chapter was just an opinionated line of crap that didn't fit in the book.
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- Uki Dominque Lucas
- 10-04-20
Interesting, but biased.
The author assumes that the people and the economy "have to" be taken care of by the equal amount of people in the next generation, hence people should have more children, or allow refugees from the 3rd world countries. This is not necessarily true, there is ingenuity, innovation and automation. I believe, if we want, we can figure out how to live in the smaller society. In addition, author's criticism of practically every country (Britain, USA, Europe) is off-putting. However, I do like Canada's, author's home and role model, meritocratic emigration policy. Finally, author's suggestion that we should all move to the big city, New York, to save the word vs living on a farm, is ridiculous as the cities are the cancer as far as the Earth and society is concerned.
I am looking forward to a little less population by the time I retire, to a home in the country side, fresh air and neighbors I know and trust. I know we can be creative and inventive and that this is something that many people underestimate when forcasting the future.
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- Amazon Customer
- 11-03-21
Very Informative
The book provides you with information not generally known. It opens your mind to new ideas. It is a very informative and provides a very good learning experience.
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- Adam
- 04-07-21
What is the desired global population?
That’s the real question that strangely goes unanswered in this interesting deep dive into demographics. The authors spend too much time on immigration, which addresses one country’s population while ignoring the shrinking global population (which is why we’re here). They also undercut the benefits of immigration with a dig at their negligible fertility impact (i.e. an immigrant’s 2.1 addition to a 1.7 society - big whoop). It’s rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic as the globe consistently shrinks overall. This strangely long series of chapters wastes time castigating uncaring societies while dodging the real concern. How many people can our planet support with innovation potential and environmental protection in balance? I still don’t know at the book’s end. Should you get this book? It’s engaging and topical. Sure... if you have a credit burning in your pocket.
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- AMZ FAN
- 12-11-20
Demographics are Destiny
Understanding the implications of inherited knowledge and hyperbole is not readily found in today's dialogue. Sometimes it takes a Canuck to remind you of why you are so blessed and not necessarily imperiled.
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- cc60537
- 11-20-22
Thought provoking, excellent performance
This book is very well done. Well researched, very thought provoking. This book enlightens readers like me who know little about demography, and little about population decline. I wish the author included more information about the pros of population decline (i.e., environment) but that's not why this book exists. Would recommend!
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