Manpower as a resource

[Yef]

Wardad said:

The people on an overcrowded world could be stuggling to survive, and produce little in excess for the empire to use.
A large population could be a large liability.

The key word here is "could".
An overcrowded world could also be a very advanced developed society, which would mean a huge internal market, and huge profits from taxation.

Examples:
- The US today doesn't hold the leadership in production of most goods out there, but is the biggest market in the world, and everybody wants to sell in the US, while the the service sector become a huge source of tax income for the goverment. And who has the most resources to have the best army?

- China. The commies in China have managed to pull of the biggest betterment of living standards in 10 years in history.
In the near future (20, 30 years?), China will likely become the largest market in the world, and with it the status of superpower.
And I don't wanna think how much money they will have for their military.

So a heavily populated world can be an enourmous source of income. In the end, everybody is a consumer, and every consumer is a market.