Policy Forum 

# The Simon Abundance Index: A New Way to Measure Availability of Resources 

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Date and Time 

April 22, 2019 11 AM - 12:30 PM EDT 

Location 

Hayek Auditorium, Cato Institute 

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##### Featuring 

Featuring **David M. Simon**, Lawyer, Eimer Stahl LLP, Chicago; **Gale Pooley**, Associate Professor of Business Management, Brigham Young University–Hawaii; **George Gilder**, Investor, writer, economist, techno-utopian, and author of *Life after Google*; moderated by **Marian L. Tupy**, Senior Policy Analyst, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute; Editor, [www​.human​progress​.org](https://www.humanprogress.org). 

Are we running out of resources? That’s been a hotly debated question since the publication of Paul Ehrlich’s book *The Population Bomb* in 1968. The Stanford University biologist warned that population growth would result in the exhaustion of resources and a global catastrophe. University of Maryland economist and Cato Institute’s Senior Fellow Julian Simon, in contrast, argued that humans would innovate their way out of resource shortages. He believed that people were the “ultimate resource” that would make other resources more plentiful. On Earth Day 2019, David M. Simon will recall the humanism and optimism of his late father. Gale Pooley and Marian L. Tupy will present the updated findings from their recent paper “[The Simon Abundance Index: A New Way to Measure Availability of Resources](https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/simon-abundance-index-new-way-measure-availability-resources)” and launch The Simon Project, a new [www​.human​progress​.org](https://www.humanprogress.org) initiative. Finally, George Gilder will discuss the link between human ingenuity, innovation, and prosperity.

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