And as I pointed out, global population growth cannot continue in perpetuity unless our Race is to be eternally dammed to wars, over-population, famine, pestilence and strife as what often happens when resources becomes too scarce for people in a region. That's Life! That’s our History!
Do we as a people want to be forced into tiny apartments, living literally on top of one another, crowds everywhere you go, because most of our land has been developed and few can afford to live in whatever is left of our open spaces? What about our farms? How much more of this land can be developed until we cease to have the capacity to feed our own people, much less the world?
At some point, yes, aggregate dollars into the coffers will cease to grow and may decline for many businesses when the population is no longer growing...So What! Technology and Science will continue to raise the standards of living and the "quality of life" which is the most important determinate of "prosperity".
Like I said, we cannot Grow our population Forever. Do you think Mother Earth can support a population of 10 trillion? 1 trillion? 50 billion? 6? I think we will find out in the next few hundred years… Until then the party rages on I guess.
Like Hong Kong and Singapore, which have zero resource wealth but still manage to maintain a standard of living that is among the best in all of Asia?
Do we as a people want to be forced into tiny apartments, living literally on top of one another, crowds everywhere you go, because most of our land has been developed and few can afford to live in whatever is left of our open spaces?
If you look around the United States today, you'll find a curious phenomenon at work -- population density is increasing in existing metropolitan areas, while at the same time large areas of the country's interior are slowly de-populating. What drives the "tiny apartment" scenario you described is not overpopulation, but inexpensive public services in urban areas.
What about our farms? How much more of this land can be developed until we cease to have the capacity to feed our own people, much less the world?
That's a good question, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. The agricultural output of the United States (measured in tons, not dollars -- so inflation is not a factor) has increased just about every year the country has existed, even as the quantity of arable land has declined due to development, environmental protection, etc. This country produces so much grain that we have to give much of it away just to maintain prices that are high enough to keep farmers in business. This, in fact, is one sector of our economy where deflation is a serious problem and would be even more of a problem with a stable (or declining) population base.
I have found that most people who complain about the overpopulation "problem" have never traveled much outside the places they live, except to go to other cities or tourist destinations. If they were to get in a car and drive from one end of the United States to the other, they'd be shocked to learn just how empty this country really is.