given message than a hundred years ago." [The Ultimate Resource 2, 1996, footnote, page 62]) development of economic equivalents, e.g., optic fibre in the case of copper for telecommunications The ever-decreasing prices, in wage-adjusted terms, indicate decreasing scarcity, in that it takes less time for the average worker to earn the money required to purchase a set amount of some commodity. This suggests, Simon claims, an enduring trend of increased availability that will not cease in the foreseeable future, despite continued population growth. Evidence A plurality of the book consists of chapters showcasing the economics of one resource or another and proposing why this resource is, for human purposes, infinite. Historical precedent Simon argues that for thousands of years, people have always worried about the end of civilization brought on by a crisis of resources. Simon lists several past unfounded environmental fears in order to back his claim that modern fears are nothing new and will also be disproven. Some of the "crises" he notes are a shortage of tin in the 13th century BCE; disappearing forests in Greece in 550 BCE and in England in the 16th century to 18th century CE; food in 1798; coal in Great Britain in the 19th century; oil since the 1850s; and various metals since the 1970s. Simon–Ehrlich wager Based on preliminary research for The Ultimate Resource, Simon and Paul Ehrlich made a famous wager in 1980, betting on a mutually agreed upon measure of resource scarcity over the decade leading up to 1990. Ehrlich was the author of a popular book, The Population Bomb, which argued that mankind was facing a demographic catastrophe with the rate of population growth quickly outstripping growth in the supply of food and resources. Simon was highly skeptical of such claims. Simon had Ehrlich choose five of several commodity metals. Ehrlich chose five metals: copper, chromium, nickel, tin, and tungsten. Simon bet that their prices would go down. Ehrlich bet they would go up. The basket of goods, costing US$1,000 in 1980, fell in price by over 57 percent over the following decade. As a result, in October 1990, Paul Ehrlich mailed Julian Simon a check for US$576.07 to settle the wager in Simon's favor. Population A large section of the book is dedicated to showing how population growth ultimately creates more resources. The basic argument echoes the overarching thesis: as resources become more scarce, the price