History has often illustrated the power of the maxim, coined by
the French socialist thinker, Auguste Comte, that "Demography
is destiny". The post war baby boom helped drive growth in
Europe and North America through the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1970s
Asia enjoyed similar, population-driven, gains.
History also shows that Comte's dictum could, more
accurately, but less elegantly, be rendered as, "Demography
and policy are destiny". To realize the potential of an
expanding population a country needs to invest in education and
infrastructure, and to have sound government.
While Asia largely got these things right in the 1970s, Latin
America, which saw similar population growth, did not. Recent
research by the International Monetary Fund shows that poor policy
and insufficient investment hindered Latin America's ability to
benefit from a growing population.
