Jonah, that’s interesting data out of Mexico. It ought to come, however, as no surprise other than to those who like to insist that Europe’s birth rate is declining because of some spiritual ‘crisis’ or, to take an even more absurd thesis, lingering embarrassment over World War II (yes, there are people out there who actually appear to be claiming just that). Birth rates are falling all over the world. While there are local factors at play from region to region, the underlying explanation lies in a combination of modernity, increasing affluence and greater access to education. It’s a benign phenomenon and (given how crowded this planet is) long overdue. If (and that’s a big ‘if’) there’s the will to do it, it’s a transition that can easily be managed by longer working lives (people are healthier for longer, so that doesn’t seem unreasonable), higher economic productivity and greater investment in automation. What it doesn’t require is the quick (and ultimately counter-productive) fix of mass immigration.