It’s tempting to make fun of the headline. Of course China’s one-child policy is a threat to growth. But let’s give the Financial Times a break. This commentary published a few days ago makes the point that the policy results in fewer young people and more elderly, and asserts this is a serious threat to China’s economic growth. The writer operates on the assumption there is general agreement that economic growth is universally desired. Those of us paying close attention to the science of sustainability understand perpetual economic growth is just as dangerous (and impossible) as perpetual population growth. We also recognize an economy only has to grow if the population is growing. And we know Ponzi demography is no way to run a country.

The writer is correct in identifying the existence of a gender imbalance in China. The one-child policy has made gender inequality in China very apparent. China is wisely recognizing the problem is not the one-child policy. The problem is the culture values women less highly than men. Fortunately work is being done to change that.