Marian Tupy, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, discusses his book "Super Abundance" with Gene Tunny. Tupy argues that resources are becoming more abundant relative to global population, a concept he calls "super abundance." He explains that human ingenuity has led to cheaper commodities over time. Tupy refutes Malthusian predictions of resource scarcity, citing examples like the Haber-Bosch process for synthetic fertilizer. He also addresses environmental concerns, emphasizing that economic growth and technological advancements can mitigate issues like ocean and air pollution and resource depletion.

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About this episode’s guest: Marian Tupy, Cato Institute

Marian L. Tupy is the founder and editor of Human​Progress​.org, and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity.

He is the co-author of the Simon Abundance Index, Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet (2022) and Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know: And Many Others You Will Find Interesting (2020).

His articles have been published in the Financial Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Newsweek, the U.K. Spectator, Foreign Policy, and various other outlets both in the United States and overseas. He has appeared on BBC, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, Fox News, Fox Business, and other channels.

Tupy received his BA in international relations and classics from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and his PhD in international relations from the University of St. Andrews in the United Kingdom.

Source: https://www.cato.org/people/marian-l-tupy

Timestamps for EP258

• Introduction and Overview of the Podcast (0:00)
• Explaining the Concept of Super Abundance (2:30)
• Methodology and Stylized Facts (6:48)
• Julian Simon and the Bet with Paul Ehrlich (9:46)
• Future Prospects and Human Ingenuity (12:45)
• Environmental Concerns and Degrowth (22:59)
• Population Growth and Resource Use (33:11)
• Final Thoughts and Future Prospects (34:08)

Takeaways

1. Tupy argues that human ingenuity continuously expands the resource base, making resources more abundant even as populations grow.
2. The concept of "time prices" shows that resources are becoming cheaper relative to wages, supporting the thesis of super abundance.
3. The famous Simon-Ehrlich bet demonstrates that commodities became cheaper over time, disproving doomsday predictions about resource depletion.
4. Technological advancements, such as desalination and agricultural productivity, are key to sustaining resource abundance.
5. Economic prosperity and technological innovation are essential for environmental protection.

Links relevant to the conversation

Marian’s book Superabundance:

https://www.amazon.com.au/Superabundance-Population-Growth-Innovation-Flourishing/dp/1952223393

Simon–Ehrlich wager Wikipedia entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon%E2%80%93Ehrlich_wager

Regarding the question, “Is it true that the majority of plastic in the oceans comes from Asia and Africa?” see:

https://www.perplexity.ai/search/is-it-true-that-the-majority-o-3aYOSMTyT6m9CcULDm7Iug

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