Since time immemorial, people have always been a resource. History has it that Europe remained underdeveloped for some time because of lack of numbers. One reason why they lost their colonial empires was the fact that they were grossly outnumbered.

What do Europe, America and Asia have in common? They are economic powers of the day. They also have large populations. Asia (Japan, China and India) has had major population explosions in the recent past. China and India lagged behind for a while but realized they had a potential in numbers. They are now on their way to greatness.

There is a positive correlation between population and economic might. An easy way to look at it is that people need clothes, electric power, and other items. The trickle down effects and multiplier effects lead automatically to more output and GDP for the countries. Another way to look at it is that populations have synergy. The synergy equation reads like 1+1=3. It is more like team work. It is mathematically proven by the famous Hawthorne studies that team work gives rise to more output than each individual work. Team members engineer ways to make work flow easily and develop complicated informal relationships. 

Economic development theory is silent on the link between population growth and economic growth.One wonders why a lot of multinationals have invested in Nigeria (a country of immense population) while cautioning the dangers of population increase in other developing countries.

The world’s current population growth rate is about 1.3%. We can expect it to clock 12 billion by 2054 if the current growth rate continues. By 2054,   Nigeria's population is expected to have risen to 258 million; Pakistan (358 million) and Congo (151m). For a serious investor, these figures represent real estate investment.

Let us consider China. The Chinese economy is on the roll. Americans and other nationals have more investments in China than other parts of the world. The biggest threat to Uncle Sam is the Chinese. The Chinese economy runs budget surpluses worth billion of dollars. I am told that China has now eliminated its slums.  It is a fact that large populations need a lot of management, a factor that China has contained. Whenever a people's potential has been tapped, the story is different.

Man has always modified his genes through the unconscious mind to sire siblings who are designed to save the rest of his hungry brothers and sisters. The genes are designed for survival and always modify themselves to sire siblings who are adaptive to save the current problems.

Even in regions with high poverty and population levels, a few always emerge to save the others hence economic development and power. The computer wizards of India are an example. Some Indians are actually very poor and live in shackles. This will however be a thing of the past. Investors in India are smiling all the way to the bank. Tomorrow it could be you. So get in your library and research on population projections for the next 20 Years. You only need to be there when it will come along.