Korean Job Discussion Forums

[MoneyMike]

Hey guys, I have a question about how population size affects economics. I've seen a few different news stories that talk about how the birth rate in this or that country is particularly low, lower than is needed to sustain the population.

My question is, for some countries wouldn't this be a good thing? Take Japan or Korea. With such high population densities, wouldn't it be a good thing for the population to slowly drop?

I know that a lower population will mean a lower tax base, but doesn't a lower population equal a lower cost of services? If your population drops by 25%, then surely healthcare costs, infrastructure costs, and other basic government services drop in cost too?

Also, I think I've read people say that with a lower population you won't have a large enough work force. What does that matter as long as your unemployment stays low? (which it would, since population is dropping) If there are not enough people to work all the available jobs, doesn't that just serve to weed out the undesirable jobs, leaving the better jobs to be filled by your population?

I guess at the heart of my question is this: don't small Asian countries at some point have to accept that they can't grow their populations any more? I mean seriously, at some point they're gonna run out of room here in Korea. You can only build up for so long.

I know there must be lots of this issue I'm ignorant about, so if someone who knows more about the topic would drop a little knowledge on me it would be appreciated!

[Madigan]

You can start here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Robert_Malthus

[Ya-ta Boy]