JAMES PETHOKOUKIS: Degrowth: a shrinking argument: The ideology of societal collapse is collapsing.

Easter Island’s collapse is meant to serve as a stark warning to readers about the consequences of unsustainable resource exploitation. . . .

“Chilling.” “Haunting.” Oh, and wrong, it seems.

A new study published in Nature refutes Diamond’s theory of Rapa Nui ecocide. Researchers analyzed genomes from 15 individuals who lived between 1670 and 1950, using remains from France’s National Museum of Natural History. The genetic data revealed no evidence of a strong population collapse before European contact. Instead, there was steady population growth from settlement until the 19th century. The study also found signs of a population bottleneck when the island was first settled around 1200 AD, followed by consistent growth. As one of the researchers put it, “There’s no strong collapse. We’re quite confident that it did not happen.” An outside expert said the analysis “serves as the final nail in the coffin of this collapse narrative.” . . . So what else do the degrowthers get wrong? Quite a bit, it turns out. . . . Degrowth research is pretty shoddy, actually.

Indeed.