Regarding Optimum Population*

** I am grateful to the editors for offering me the opportunity to write for moral philosophers and political theorists on a topic that has intrigued m e ever since I was a graduate student. Their commen ts on an earlier draft of the paper has helped me to u nderstand the subject a good deal better. The topic is so hard that until recently I was unable to arrive at a formulation of the concept of optimum populati on about which I felt confident. Over the years I have fumbled around to find ways to express my ideas; and am all too aware that readers may conclude I am still fumbling. The present essay is a consolidati on of Dasgupta (1969, 1988, 1994, 1998, 2004 [2001]). My greatest debt is to Kenneth Arrow and the late James Meade, conversations with whom over the years have greatly influenced my thinking on the subject of optimum population. I have also been muc h stimulated by the criticisms of my earlier writin gs on the subject by John Broome (Broome, 1996; 1999: ch.15).