Divergence
I was unable to open your first link, but I think you greatly underestimate the capacity of society to come up with innovative ways to do things. Check out this seminal article by Paul Romer:

http://www.stanford.edu/~promer/EconomicGrowth.pdf

Popnperish

I’m not sure where you’re getting your data, nor why you picked that time period, but this is what the ABS data show for GSP per capita and population growth over the period you chose - 1995-96 to 2005-06 (ranks in brackets)

GSP per capita growth:

NSW ___ 25% ___ (7)

Vic ___ 28% ___ (4)

Qld ___ 33% ___ (1)

SA ___ 25% ___ (5)

WA ___ 29% ___ (3)

Tas ___ 23% ___ (8)

NT ___ 29% ___ (2)

ACT ___ 25% ___ (6)

Aus ___ 27%

Population growth:

NSW ___ 10% ___ (5)

Vic ___ 12% ___ (4)

Qld ___ 22% ___ (1)

SA ___ 6% ___ (7)

WA ___ 16% ___ (2)

Tas ___ 3% ___ (8)

NT ___ 15% ___ (3)

ACT ___ 9% ___ (6)

Aus ___ 13%

So, with the exception of Victoria:

- Every state and territory recording above-average GSP per capita growth recorded above-average population growth

- Every state and territory recording below-average GSP per capita growth recorded below-average population growth

Further:

- Queensland had by far the strongest growth in GSP per capita and population

- Tasmania had the lowest growth in population and per capita GSP

- Regression analysis shows a positive correlation between per capita GSP growth and population growth

[same data source as previous link]

*the modern Western version is only a more sophisticated adaptation of the age old mediums of engagement.*

The age old medium Poirot, goes right to the heart of evolution
theory. Men enjoy sex and have to figure out a way to get it,
women want resources to raise their offspring. Its hormones
all the way. Pairbonding or marriage as you might call it,
is the result of that.

The modern version is that its women who are screaming for that
new kitchen, new furniture, more clothes and all the rest.
Many a man's sex life dramatically improves when he can provide
them all, or dismally goes downhill if he can't.

*I love the constant background noise, the police sirens crossing the Bridge, the honking of the ferries on the Harbour...*

Indeed Pericles, even rats conditioned to their cages, can be
conditioned to be content there :) But I note you chose Sydney
as a place to live. Its natural beauty (the harbour), its not
overcrowded yet by international standards, all good reasons.

So why turn it into a Calcutta or a Bombay for no good reason?

Using GDP/gsp data as an index of how well off we are seems to be the standard measure used by economists and governments. But it is hardly reliable.
GSP or GDP only counts monetary transactions so for example clean air is not part of the calculation.
But even if we are to consider just the monetary activity it is still far from reliable - Queensland will this year have a signficant boost in its GSP - this will be due to the massive rebuilding required as a result of the floods and hurricanes.
If nothing else comes out of this debate it may alert us to the need to employ an alternative measure to the GDP/GSP - we could do worse than use the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_of_Sustainable_Economic_Welfare)
This tool counts costs as negative - for example if you are involved in a car accident that costs $10,000 to fix then that cost would be listed as a deduction rather than added to the GDP as it is at present.
So the data that Popperish and Rhian are skirmishing with is really a red herring - we would need to take a much closer look at what is being counted before we can be confident that the data gives us any useful information about population growth and the quality of life.

@ Mr Windy
Herewith an abridged CV for your information:
4 years of Environmental studies at ANU
5th year honours; studying growth of Eucalyptus
Post grad diploma in economics
11years work experience in both a GTO & private firm.
Currently live in a regional area of NSW.

Well then clearly Dean you have learned nothing about ecology or have been indocrinated with the mind set that ecological limits do not and will never apply to humans.

Technology will not significantly expand the ecological limits that the global human population is now continually butting up against.

The Earth is finite Dean and the human population and or economies can no longer expand further in order for people like you to avoid making difficult decisions along the lines of limiting human fertility and not making prevention of all deaths in the third world an absolute priority.

If your lectures failed to instill in you and sense of human limits then thay have failed you and society at large.

Baygon

I agree that GDP/GSP is a poor indicator of economic welfare, personally I prefer to use real in total (private + public) consumption. If we use these data instead, over the same period chosen by Divergence, the result is almost identical – only Victoria and the ACT break the pattern of higher growth in per capita consumption matching higher growth in population and vice versa.

The ACT data are odd, but looking behind the numbers they are due to the distorting effect of growth in Commonwealth government consumption, which accounted for more than 60% of consumption growth over the decade and is obviously a product of the Commonwealth Government’s role in Canberra.

NSW ___ 37% ___ (7)
Vic ___ 46% ___ (5)
Qld ___ 57% ___ (2)
SA ___ 40% ___ (6)
WA ___ 46% ___ (4)
Tas ___ 36% ___ (8)
NT ___ 53% ___ (3)
ACT ___ 58% ___ (1)
Aus ___ 45

You're better than that, Yabby

>>Indeed Pericles, even rats conditioned to their cages, can be conditioned to be content there<<

But I'll treat that as a minor lapse of manners for the time being.

>>So why turn it into a Calcutta or a Bombay for no good reason?<<

Well, you see, that is not what will happen.

The social and economic environment that created those cities is not present here in Australia. I am certain that as a population we have the wit and the wisdom to grow in a manner that does not create such problems for ourselves. Let's face it, Australia has grown substantially since the fifties, without environmental and social disasters. Why imagine that it will suddenly start to happen now?

The agenda underlying most of the "stop immigration. Now!" brigade has very little to do with food, water or open air, and a great deal to do with a vague hankering to have those times back again.

Oh, what a wonderful time to be alive, the fifties. We used to walk everywhere, you know. The corner shop had everything we needed, and the kids played footy on the oval - heck, they could even play safely in the road. Everybody knew their neighbours - ah, you don't get that nowadays, do you...

And so on.

You know the rest. They are the same people who fill the council chambers when there's a Muslim school on the planning agenda...