The definition of "golden billion" has become quite popular in Russian journalism. What does this concept include? The free Russian encyclopedia Tradition defines the "golden billion" as a metaphor describing the difference in living standards between the population of highly developed countries and the rest of the world.
Where did the expression "golden billion" come from
The authorship of this expression is unknown. Some scholars attribute the phrase "golden billion" to Paul Ehrlich. Massively, this expression has been used since about 2000. He popularized the expression of S.G. Kara-Murza is a scientist, political scientist and publicist.
"Golden Billion" - the total population of developed countries: USA, Canada, Australia, EU countries, Japan, Israel and South Korea.
The expression is based on ideas about the progress and prosperity of a small number of people on the planet, since the Earth’s natural resources are very limited.
Prerequisites for the emergence of the term "golden billion"
The idea that there wouldn’t be enough natural wealth for everyone first appeared in 1798, in the works of T. Malthus, an English demographer and economist. Thomas Malthus in his essay on the law of population predicted a global catastrophe, because according to his theory the population is growing faster than the production of resources. The theory of Malthus was that the smaller the population of the Earth, the higher the average income per capita.
But T. Malthus could not have foreseen the industrialization of the 20th century. It was in this century that there was a sharp jump in productivity in agriculture and industry, new types of materials and raw materials were obtained. In many industries, the replacement of natural raw materials with artificial materials has been made. Mineral extraction has increased.
