Russia has never been busier — or more exhausted. After three years of war, the Kremlin boasts record-low unemployment and record-high labor shortages. Factories can’t find welders, farms can’t find drivers, and the defense industry is devouring what’s left of the civilian workforce. The result is an economy that runs without advancing — its motion […]
Tag: demographics
From Abandoned to Essential: China’s Ban on International Adoptions Signals a New Era for Daughters
For decades, Chinese daughters were abandoned in favor of sons, leading to waves of international adoptions like Kate’s. This new restriction on international adoption seems to signal a change in how Chinese society views its daughters today.
Rethinking Low Fertility
In 2022, Elon Musk made statements that shocked the Twitterverse that led to headlines like “Elon Musk thinks the population will collapse. Demographers say it’s not happening” and “Elon Musk says ‘population collapse’ is more dangerous than global warming. Experts say that won’t happen.” By now, Musk has taken these claims off X, formerly known […]
Japan’s Forgotten Children
I don’t have any dreams [for the future]. —Nozomi M., living in an institution, Osaka, December 2011 Without Dreams: Children in Alternative Care in Japan In a country with falling birth rates, an aging society, and an alarming population crisis, thousands of children are slipping through the cracks. Japan’s failing foster care system creates a […]
Social Security and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Outlook
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Ironically, for the future of retirement, past will not be prologue. In the decades ahead, America will confront some long term trends — among them declining birth rates and life expectancy gains — and we will be forced to reform our essential welfare programs, including Social Security. Because these population trends were less stark in […]
South Africa: Demographics and the One-Party State
A voter shows her inked thumb after voting in South Africa’s municipal elections For the party that led South Africa out of Apartheid, a monopoly on the future of South Africa has long been assured — that is, until last August. Taking home only 53.9% of the vote in the municipal elections, the African National […]
Why the CCP’s Days are Numbered
Barricades in the streets. Chaos everywhere. A few officials frantically working to stall the impending storm. No, this isn’t the rebel base under attack in The Empire Strikes Back. This is Hong Kong, 2016. The Empire is the Chinese Communist Party, and its archenemy is time. In 2014, the Chinese Communist Party proposed that Hong […]