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(CNN Spanish) -
"If people do not have more children, civilization will collapse," said Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, at an event organized on Monday by The Wall Street Journal.
"Remember my words," he emphasized.
Musk, 50, has six children from two marriages, adding that he tries to "lead by example."
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But what exactly was the South African billionaire dedicated to electric cars and space rockets referring to?
"The basis of the economy is work: capital is only distilled labor," he said during his speech.
"And the biggest limitations are work: there are not enough people. I cannot emphasize it too much."
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Musk noted that, in his view, one of the main risks to today's civilization is low birth rates and how quickly they continue to decline.
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"And yet so many people, including very intelligent people, believe that there are too many people in the world and that the global population is growing out of control. Look, it's just the opposite. Please look at the numbers: if people don't have more children, civilization will collapse. Remember my words, "he said.
The birth numbers Elon Musk referred to
Is the birth rate in the world actually falling?
The National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, for its acronym in English) published a report in May that showed a sharp drop in the birth rate in the United States, far from the "boom "of births that some expected when the restrictions due to covid-19 began to be lifted.
In China, meanwhile, the birth rate in 2020 hit another record low, and there is no indication that things are going to improve anytime soon.
There were only 8.5 births per 1,000 people in the country last year, according to the latest yearbook published by the country's National Statistics Office at the end of November.
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Although these are only data from the world's two main economies, global trends seem similar: According to the World Bank, the birth rate - measured in live births per 1,000 people - stood at 17.89 in 2019, and has been sharply retreating from the peak of 36.06 in 1963.
Tesla, a success story
Tesla, founded by Musk, went from being a startup to becoming the world's most valuable carmaker, a trillion-dollar company run by the world's richest man, with a $ 267 billion fortune derived from it. largely from your ownership stake.
Today, Tesla may be better positioned than anyone else to compete on a level playing field.
Tesla has more than 30,000 fast charging stations around the world.
Its vehicles are so popular that some current models are back for delivery until next summer, despite Tesla raising prices this year.
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Although Tesla is in many ways an American success story, it was not included when the Biden administration held a summit on electric vehicles at the White House this summer.
Tesla sells the majority of electric vehicles in the United States.
Tesla and the Biden administration disagree on union work.
Biden supports union work, calling it a creator of the middle class.
Tesla does not have unionized workers, although Musk said that, on average, his workers can earn more money than unionized workers at General Motors.
Tesla's worker safety record was sometimes criticized for being worse than that of the rest of the auto manufacturing industry, which generally uses unionized labor.
Tesla said last year that its injury rate per vehicle produced had dropped 50% as of 2019.
With information from Matt McFarland.
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