In After the Spike: Population, Progress, and the Case for People, Dean Spears and Michael Geruso argue that the defining demographic risk of this century is global depopulation.

Spears and Geruso are both professors at the University of Texas at Austin, focusing on economic demography and development economics. In their new book, they explore the trend of falling birth rates, how it threatens human progress, and what actions may reverse this trend.

In their conversation with Nikolaus Lang, global leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, they discuss projections for global depopulation, why advances in AI and robotics will not replace humans, why fewer people may not be good for the planet, and what the implications of all this are for business leaders.

Key topics discussed:

[01:06] Projected global population levels
[06:11] The impact of depopulation
[11:00] The potential for AI and robotics to replace humans
[17:00] The environmental implications of depopulation
[21:24] Potential solutions to falling birth rates
[26:02] Implications for business leaders
[28:26] Reasons to remain hopeful

Additional inspirations from Dean Spears:

• Air: Pollution, Climate Change and India’s Choice Between Policy and Pretence (Harper Collins Publishers India, 2019)
• Where India Goes: Abandoned Toilets, Stunted Development and the Costs of Caste, co-authored by Diane Coffey (Harper Collins Publishers India, 2017)