The great population debates: How relevant are they for the 21st century?

Two great debates-whether population growth is a problem and how to address the problem if one exists-dominated population policy discussions in the 2 0th century. The debate about whether pitted those who saw rapid population growth as a problem against those who believed the cries of alarm were fal se. The debate about how was conducted between advocates of the direct deli very of contraceptives through family planning programs and those who couns eled a broader, more holistic approach. The debate about how was largely re solved by the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development a t Cairo; the debate about whether remains unresolved. Environmentalists, ecologists, and physical scientists generally support th e view that rapid population growth is harmful, but economists remain large ly unconvinced. Contemporary declines in fertility and the end of the popul ation crisis mentality of the mid- to late 20th century could, ironically, diminish public support for precisely those programs that have been respons ible for the rapid fertility decline of the past 3 decades-programs that wi ll be required to complete the "demographic transition" in those parts of t he developing world where fertility remains very high.