Posted on 01/22/2013 11:01:18 AM PST by blam
The Worldwide Demographic Cliff Is Going To Be Brutal
The Economist
Jan. 22, 2013, 8:56 AM
THE post-war generation of baby boomers - those born between 1946 and 1964 - have had a huge appetite on the world, creating "youth culture", changing social attitudes from the sixties onwards, boosting economic growth as they entered the workforce and so on. Now they are starting to retire and this blog had banged on about the effect this will have on issues like pensions, asset markets and economic growth. not to worry, say some folk, since although we may have more elderly to look after, we will have fewer children.
Alas, that won't help, as this graph compiled by statistician Simon Hedlin shows. The total dependency ratio (children and retirees, compared with those of working age) fell in all G20/OECD nations bar Germany and Sweden between 1960 and 2010. In the next fifty years, it will rise in all those nations, bar India and South Africa. In most nations, the ratio will rise by 40% or more; there are huge increases in dependency in parts of Asia (China and South Korea) and in eastern Europe. Britain and America are towards the bottom of the table, but their problems are big enough.
There are many implications. With more dependents to care for, it is very hard to imagine how we will pay down our debts. And it is also very hard to imagine how one can possibly expect government spending to shrink significantly.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Hey ladies, I hope the free birth control Obama gives you is worth it.
"F*#& for the Future!"
And it is also very hard to imagine how one can possibly expect government spending to shrink significantly.
Yep. It will happen, but it never happens voluntarily.
There are old people that are more worthless than others. They are worth less in this order:
1. Male
2. White
3. Christian
4. Conservative
5. Military Veterans
6. Educated
7. Etc.
The whole world will be better when these racist old people with their old morals and ways are dead and gone.
0bamaCare takes care of any unwanted nasty blemishes on your population by making them wait a few years for that open heart surgery.
(ahem) You mean the death squads? (Political appointees that will decide if you live or die?)
If only this article were written in English.
Isn’t it the younger voters who want free birth control and voted for Obama?
First, let me adjust my flame proof suit, then an observation:
One fact unmentioned - when all us old farts retire, who is going to produce the money required to even half run society?
Yesterday afternoon I standing on the floor of a friend of mine’s small manufacturing company. They were behind and several of his ‘key’ employees were busting their butt to catch up. Meanwhile when 4 pm rolled around, most employees left.
Of course you know the punch line. Him, me, the people staying to catch up all have one similar characteristic: gray. Gray hair, gray beards, wrinkles, etc. Those that just had too many things to do and left - young.
We’re standing there watching this and he says to me, “if I ever decide I want to retire, I have no idea what to do with this place - sell it off I guess.” His own kid was one of the ones that left.
I am not trying to sound like an old fart, but I still see too much of the water being carried by gray, and way too little interest by those without gray. And while I plan to work a lot longer - all the gray will croak someday. Then what happens?
Well, Laz is sure keen on doing all he can.
ONOZ! The sky is falling!!
There are some important subdivisions in the generations that are going to matter soon.
In cultural terms, if not pure demographics, the Baby Boomers (I) were born from 1945-1955. Those that followed them, from 1955-1965 or so, are sometimes called Boomers II, or “Generation Jones”, and they have something of an overlap with Boomers I on one side and Generation X on the other.
That is, the earlier Boomers II got some cultural “trickle down” from the Boomers I, though it was second hand, not direct participation and experience. The later Boomers II are far more in tune with Generation X, both of which began to have to suffer the cultural burden of Boomers I.
This matters today, because Boomers II and Generation X do not personally expect what the Boomers I expect, and they aren’t too thrilled about paying for it, either. They see Boomers I as takers, and they are in no mood to give, just so the Boomers I can take.
Boomers II and Generation X are cynical when it comes to things like Social Security and Obamacare, because they know that government is just taking all the money and spending it on other things, with zero intention of ever paying it back.
So they are looking forward to Boomers I losing their political strength over time, because when they do, they are likely going to be cut loose and told to fend for themselves.
“You were greedy, demanding and arrogant your whole lives, so now it is time for working past when you wanted to retire, and learning how to beg to make ends meet. Welcome to the future you built for yourselves, Baby Boomers I.”
“...I still see too much of the water being carried by gray...”
I was on a engineering crew installing fiber-optic cables at NSA a few years ago. When the project started I was 62 and figured that I was going to be the geezer on the team.
Ha!
On this 8 person team, I was 4th oldest.
I’m sure he was referring to those who voted with their lady parts in 2012.
Obama sees Boomer Grandmothers wearing babushkas sweeping out Red Square (Chicago) and the Grandfathers dead.
I’m Gen X (born 1969) and have several relatives (cousins, etc.) who would be what you call Boomer IIs and this is right on the mark. We’ve talked for years now about how messed up the Boomer I’s are (though we never had such a term) and how they’ve ruined the country in many ways. Their dotage is not going to be a pleasant one, I don’t think.
That’s going to be me - an old Granny in a Babushka hanging out on the street corner with her cronies...
Not.
Signed,
A tail-end Baby Boomer with her sh!t together :) (For the most part.)
I know it may not MATTER if things are REALLY bleak, world-wide...
Hopefully we will stay armed, jackass.
You can’t eat guns, if nobody will give you any free food.
It’s a hard fact of life that there are too many Boomers I for everybody else to support in the way they want to be supported.
The Democrats want to kill them off, but the vast majority of conservatives are willing to live and let live. But that doesn’t mean impoverishing the young so that the elderly can live in luxury, no matter how much the elderly want it.
If they earned and saved enough, and have a family willing to watch over them, good for them. If they don’t, then the best they can hope for is Christian charity.
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