A World Population Policy for the World Population Year

Abstract

World population problems have remained the con cern of demographers and historians. Even today, when politicians or international organizations deal with such questions, they consider them either an individual and personal, or a specifically internal and national problem, rather than viewing the population issue from a global perspective.

The author argues that individual and national population decisions impinge on broader interests- illustrated by the 'tragedy of the commons', here explained in game theoretical terms. He urges that for the World Population Year 1974, the world population problem be presented as a dilemma of worldwide scale, soluble only by worldwide action.