Except that, in many nations around the world, the population growth rate is negative. There is no shortage of space, or food, or energy, but the populations are aging and couples are having fewer children. This is the situation in Japan, Germany, Russia, South Korea, and almost all of Eastern Europe.

The U.S. population growth rate has also been in decline for the past 50 years, dropping from 1.7 percent to 0.7 percent, heading towards negative growth if this trend continues.

So much for "an ever increasing population" to bolster a market that always goes up.