Is space settlement a solution to the overpopulation problem?
In truth, economic development is a better solution to rapid population growth than is space settlement. There is a strong, inverse relationship between living standard and population growth. There is additionally a direct relationship between living standard and energy use. A cheap, clean, plentiful supply of energy (like SPS) could go a long way toward helping to improve the standard of living in many poorer nations, thus slowing their population growth rates. So space settlements may do more to reduce population pressures by helping to power economic development on Earth than by “siphoning off” excess population.
