If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.

FORBES: Malthus and Scrooge: How Charles Dickens Put Holly Branch Through The Heart Of The Worst Economics Ever

They needed to be reminded on the day where the world celebrates the birth of a child whom Rome and Herod try to assign to the role of 'surplus population, ' that the frightened men who rule the world in the name of scarcity should not be followed, but saved.

FORBES: Malthus And Scrooge

TABOR, which was passed by voters in 1992, pegs government spending to the growth in population and consumer prices, and gives any surplus revenue back to the voters.

ECONOMIST: A tough decision for voters and Republicans in particular

But subsistence farmers, who, with their families, are perhaps 85% of the population, still find it hard to amass the necessary surplus in good years to see them through the bad.

ECONOMIST: Facing famine, Ethiopia appeals urgently for food aid

It says that any state or local tax change that increases revenue, after allowing for inflation and population growth, must be approved by a popular vote, and that any budget surplus must be returned to the people.

ECONOMIST: Paying for a changing city