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Events • April 22, 2019 

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

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.

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

![David M. Simon cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2022-08/David-M.-Simon-Cropped.jpg?itok=fICKCzu1) 

##### David M. Simon 

Senior Fellow, Committee to Unleash Prosperity

[![Pooley-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-06/Pooley-cropped.jpg?itok=oFyriSwV)](/people/gale-l-pooley) 

##### [Gale L. Pooley](/people/gale-l-pooley)

Adjunct Scholar, Cato Institute, and Associate Professor of Business Management, Brigham Young University–Hawaii

##### George Gilder 

[![marian-tupy-crop-temp.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2022-08/marian-tupy-crop-temp.jpg?itok=zdX_3JzR)](/people/marian-l-tupy) 

##### [Marian L. Tupy](/people/marian-l-tupy)

Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

[ 

](https://x.com/Marian_L_Tupy) [ 

](mailto:mtupy@cato.org)