Russia’s president Vladimir Putin has proposed paying women to have babies. Putin, alarmed by Russia’s falling fertility rates (and the economic decline that could follow as Russia’s median age increases), has suggested a $36,000 lump-sum payment to goad women into having more kids.

Grist has a good piece today about why this is a bad idea. To summarize: Russia’s falling fertility rates coincide with rapidly declining life expectancy (now in the 50s) and the highest child mortality rate in the industrialized world. Raising children costs a whole lot more than $36,000; Russia is poor. All of which makes it extremely unlikely that paying women to have more babies will improve Russia’s situation in the long run.

The bottom line is this: Where would China’s economic miracle be today if the government had insisted that every woman have five kids instead of promoting family planning? The way out of the fertility problem is economic growth through well-implemented immigration programs, which is also a very effective way to share wealth and reduce poverty. Vladimir, listen to me, you can’t reproduce your way out of this mess. You are going to have to be a little more creative than this.