If the roots of Capitalism are arguably traced back to this phenomenon, what will be the economic outcome of widespread population decline in Europe?

It must be necessary to consider population according to its effects on the society, the environment and the economy in order to ensure sustainable development.

Here is a hard question for governments ‘Is population growth a good thing?’ Without an answer ‘population policy’ becomes too-difficult. Politicians tend to get elected if they can do well for the economy and there is good evidence that more youthful populations are more econcomically active than aging populations. But environmentalists worry that over-population will result in the near-extinction of Homo sapiens – the Easter Island effect. Talk about ‘saving the planet’ is really talk about saving our species. The planet is pretty good at looking after itself and has ALWAYS been in flux with all species becoming extinct, in time.
The most telling statistic, for me, in the article on New Zealand is the linking of education to fertility.
As an environmentalist, I am alarmed by excess population growth.

The linking of education, employment and female fertility is quite dangerous as a policy issue.[ http://ips.ac.nz/publications/files/de7a83ae960.pdf ]

Do men seriously think the only reason that females should want to marry them is for economic support? If so the socio-cultural problem and its consequences in the flow on policy conext is large indeed!

Yes. As one might say, the meaning of ‘dominion’ opens up a can of worms. First one would have to know how it was used in the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) then one would have to know if its meaning changed with the advent of Christianity (the New Testament). I have heard it argued that the Hebrew word was closer to ‘a duty of care’ than a ‘right to exploit’. But one can set against this the historical fact that Christianity is associated with much human expansion, population growth, colonisation, pollution etc.
Good to hear that the detested mosquito (which, thankfully, does not like me very much) has a useful role in the planetry ecosystem.
I think it is Japanese women, rather than Japanese men, who are reluctant to marry. Men, it is said, treat them as unpaid servants and goodness knows what else (Japanese porn has a reputation for being weirdly bizarre). Women are coming to prefer dogs to children http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/jun/08/why-japan-prefers-pets-to-parenthood

It seems to eliminate mosquitos rather than just the diseases they carry would be a major ecological mistake. [ http://insects.about.com/od/flies/f/what-good-are-mosquitoes.htm ]

Are Japanese young people averse to marriage and children? Is this effecting the rate of population replacement? [ http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/three-reasons-japan-s-economic-pain-is-getting-worse ]

If man is ‘just another animal’, rather than a special species which has dominion over ‘every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth’ then ethical principles should be extended to the animal kingdom. The problem is that this would make war on mosquitos etc a crime on a par with genocide.
The trend in Japan’s population indicates that the animal kingdoms may fare better in future than they have done in the past century. If present trends continue, for example, Japan’s population will fall back to 40m http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Japan#Demographic_statistics_from_the_CIA_World_Factbook. And there are many indications of similar falls elsewhere (except in Africa). So maybe the animals will once again have dominion over humans.

It is interesting that in indigenous society the notion of increase and decrease ceremonies and strict kinship relationships managed the size of the population of both humans and animals who occupied strict territorial boundaries.
[ http://ozoutback.com.au/Australia/jarduwanpa/index.html ]

Some of those who worry about the lack of information about dinosaurs in the Bible argue that the above reference to ‘sea-monsters’ shows that they ARE mentioned, though the Hebrew word can also mean dragons. In the east, which has more enthusiasm for dragons than the west, it is pretty well agreed that the idea of dragons comes from crocodiles. How they became a symbol of love and good luck in Chinese culture is problematic. Most people think of crocs as harmful to humans and therefore, presumably, meriting extinction like the mosquito and the tetse fly – if humans are to have dominion over the earth. But if we could teach mosquitos to occupy a limited territory and practice birth control and not become illegal immigrants then we could have a World Mosquito Reserve. Once it has eliminated malaria the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation would, presumably, be willing to provide the funding.

Sixth day: God had the earth bring forth living creatures, and made man in God’s image, male and female, giving man dominion over the animals and the earth, and blessed man to be fruitful and multiply. (Genesis 1:24–28) God gave vegetation to man and to the animals for food. (Genesis 1:29–30)

Yet God also gave the command on Day Five to the “great sea-monsters, and every living creature that creepeth, wherewith the waters swarmed, after its kind, and every winged fowl after its kind” (at 22)[ http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0101.htm#24 ]to ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.’

Luckily He didn’t also give them dominion or they too would have had to resist the temptation to eat the apple and worry about whether or not to use birth control!