After the Spike: The Risks of Global Depopulation and the Case for People

If we continue as we are, the world’s population will peak in the next few decades – and then begin a sudden, rapid decline. It would be easy to think that fewer people would be better for the planet, better for the people who remain. In After the Spike, two leading population economists ask us to think again.

Carefully weighing the evidence that surrounds this controversial subject, Dean Spears and Mike Geruso explain why depopulation is not the solution some purport it to be. Instead, as humanity’s future shrinks it will become increasingly fragile and less certain, making it even harder to escape poverty, disease and injustice.

Halting this decline need not mean sacrificing a greener future or reverting to past inequities; in fact, it can only be achieved with women’s reproductive rights and individual choice as driving forces. But if we want future generations to enjoy lives better than our own, it’s time to take seriously our collective task of lifting the burdens of parents and other carers.

Deeply reasoned and uncompromisingly humane, After the Spike sheds important light on a dramatic shift in the human story and asks us to consider what future we want – for our planet, our children, and one another.