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"The global population is projected to top out and start shrinking for the first time since the Bronze Age Collapse sometime this century."

I'm not sure the global population actually decreased during the BAC (it started rapidly increasing in Palestine about that time). It decreased at various points during the 2nd millennium AD (due to the Black Death and Spanish conquest, revolutions in China, wars in Germany, etc.). Also, I doubt the world population will actually shrink at any point during this century due to the growth of Sub-Saharan Africa and European TFR likely rising by the time Africa's population growth slows down.

"US industrial cities like Pittsburgh and Detroit were already losing jobs to Germany and Japan."

True, and also to other places in the U.S. The monopoly rents Northern cities had during the early 20th century were bound to break down due to the spread of trucking and electricity.

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