Though the world's population continues to grow, total fertility rates are dropping below replacement level in many parts of the world. The Baby Bust, a landmark book of essays by demographic, economic, and political science experts, examines the global 'birth dearth' and its causes, implications, and policy options. Focusing in large part on the United States, this book also includes data from Europe and Japan and makes important comparisons between the three regions. It concludes with suggestions for making America's future sound and prosperous, through the regularization and legalization of appropriate levels of immigration; enhancing governmental efforts to increase productivity; and finally, ending the present waste of so many underutilized members of the workforce, particularly minorities and the poor.

Contributions by: Francesco C. Billari FBA, Alan Curtis, Rodolfo O. de la Garza, Peter Edelman, Herbert S. Klein, Hans-Peter Kohler, Robert G. Lynch, Naohiro Ogawa, José Antonio Ortega, Robert D. Retherford