Introduction

Rajanish Kakade/Associated Press

A recent Retro Report examines how the apocalyptic predictions about overpopulation made by the biologist Paul Ehrlich, in his 1968 book “The Population Bomb,” have not come to pass. Disease-resistant crops, improved health standards and a broader demographic shift from an agricultural society have kept the problem at bay.



But do we still need to worry about overcrowding? Is the threat of overpopulation overblown?