"'Let's not teach our children that apocalyptic thinking is right thinking,' says Laurence Siegel. Apocalypticism 'has always been wrong as a forecast, and it will continue to be wrong.'

"Siegel is a business consultant and the director of research at the CFA Institute Research Foundation. In Fewer, Richer, Greener, he argues convincingly that humanity has spent two centuries rising from our natural state of abject poverty, and that most of the credit for that goes market institutions and democracy. Parsing current trends, Siegel foresees world population peaking and then stabilizing by the end of this century. (Hence the 'fewer.') He argues that economic growth will bring humanity much greater wealth and more adept technologies. (Hence the 'richer.') And thanks to increased urbanization and steadily improving material efficiency, he thinks our species will tred more lightly on many natural ecosystems. (Hence the 'greener.')"

Article: Apocalyptic Thinking is Wrong