One of the great worries facing the new political establishment in Poland is the low birth rate. Hence the decision to pay people to have children. I was reminded of this when reading Tom Tomorrow’s criticism of Niall Ferguson:

“You see this theme popping up a lot on right these days – the fear of an exploding Muslim population outstripping a declining Western birth rate. I wonder if the writers even realize the extent to which they are echoing century-old fears that the ‘advanced’ races would be outbred.”

Is this why the Polish government is paying people to have sex? (In Poland having sex and procreating are increasingly seen as synonymous.) Birth rates tend to be higher in poor countries (here Poland again bucks the trend). If the Polish government really wants to be “pro-family” maybe they should pursue policies that drive the country further and further into depression…