Sir, - In his review of Progress and Barbarism: The World in the Twentieth Century by Clive Ponting (Books, August 22nd), Frank McLynn writes "... the United States, with a fifth of the planet's population, consumes 30 per cent of its resources."
This is grossly in error since the US has less than five per cent of the planet's population. If the US did indeed have "a fifth'` (20 per cent) of the world's population, then the 30 per cent figure would not be so alarmingly disproportionate. The 5 per cent to 30 per cent ratio, however, illustrates clearly the outrageously disproportionate share of the world's resources consumed by the US.
And, sadly, it seems that we are determined to follow the US model. - Yours, etc., Myles Crowe,
Courtmacsherry,
West Cork.