Chiroptera:
It will be interesting to see what happens in China when all those boys grow up and realize they all can't find wives.
It's already happening. One result is a boom in matchmaking businesses willing to help Chinese men find wives from Russia, North Korea, Cambodia, Burma, Laos and Vietnam.
The same businesses are thriving by helping Chinese women find husbands from any country
but China.
I'd say the 'one-child policy' is a classic example of a linear solution imposed on a complex system. You get lots of unintended consequences.
Interestingly, Asia's first hot economies--in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore--developed much faster than mainland China
without any population restrictions. It's no secret that all of them are densely populated places.
China's one-child policy has a lot to do with lowering the birth rate, but I take with a grain of salt any credit this gets for stimulating China's economy. This is 'after-because' reasoning. The economic jump is tied directly to China's adopting the economic models already operating in neighboring countries.
As living conditions improve, birth rate slows. Some excellent points are being made here about the effect of improved education and professional prospects for women. Today Japan and Taiwan are discussing the implications of 'an ageing population.'
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Archer
All species are transitional.