Jared Diamond projects global environmental and economic decline in his 2005 bestseller Collapse: How Societies Chose to Fail or Succeed. In contrast, most economists predict not growth-induced resource depletion or Malthusian economic stagnation, but instead potentially reversible problems caused by bad government policies.

Robert M. Whaples is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute and Co-Editor of The Independent Review.
Economic History and DevelopmentEconomistsEconomyInternational Economics and DevelopmentPhilosophy and ReligionPublic Choice
Other Independent Review articles by Robert M. Whaples
Winter 2024/25 Character in the American Experience: An Unruly People
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Winter 2024/25 Richer and More Equal: A New History of Wealth in the West
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