The following quotation appeared on the web page of the 1993 Social Inventions Journal as a debating point, and not as a proposal.

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Green stamps for the right to have children

The following questionable proposal, with its evident attractions and drawbacks, is from an interview with Garrett Hardin, author of The Tragedy of the Commons (1968) and Living Within Limits (Oxford University Press) in Omni magazine (June '92).

'If she wants two children, she has to enter the market and buy two-tenths more stamps'

Economist Kenneth Boulding suggested that at birth, every female in the country be endowed with a certain number of green stamps giving her the right to a certain number of children when she reaches child-bearing age. Depending on the population, the value of these stamps may vary from year to year. Let's say one year each woman is entitled to one and eight-tenths green stamps. If a woman wants to have one child she can sell the eight-tenths to somebody else. If she wants two children, she has to enter the market and buy two-tenths more stamps. This could work in any country.

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