The infamous overpopulation bet: Simon vs. Ehrlich - Soraya Field Fiorio
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TEDEd Animation
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In 1980, Paul Ehrlich and Julian Simon bet $1,000 on a question with stakes that couldn’t be higher: would the earth run out of resources to sustain a growing human population? They bet $200 on the price of five metals. If the price of a metal decreased or held steady over the next decade, Simon won. If the price increased, Ehrlich won. So, what happened? Soraya Field Fiorio investigates.
The economist Julian Simon believed that humans were endlessly clever and could find a solution to any problem. He was not worried that overpopulation would lead to mass starvation. Why not?
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Meet The Creators
- Educator Soraya Field Fiorio
- Director Avi Ofer
- Narrator Alexandra Panzer
- Music Salil Bhayani, cAMP Studio
- Sound Designer Nirana Singh, cAMP Studio
- Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
- Editorial Director Alex Rosenthal
- Producer Bethany Cutmore-Scott
- Editorial Producer Elizabeth Cox
- Fact-Checker Charles Wallace
