The Economist (October 12)
“China is dangerously short of water. While the south is a lush, lake-filled region, the north—which has half the population and most of the farmland—is more like a desert.” To try to solve the problem, China has now “built as many large dams as the rest of the world put together.” To really solve the problem, however, China will need to focus on regulatory issues, such as cracking down on polluters, and economic incentives, such as increasing water rates to encourage conservation.
Tags: China, Conservation, Dams, Desert, Economics, Farmland, Polluters, Population, Regulation, Water
Financial Times (September 18)
South Korea is increasingly turning to immigrants to fill 3D jobs considered dirty, difficult and dangerous. The “migrant worker population that has risen to around 540,000 from 49,500 in 1990” looks poised to continue growing. “With a looming demographic crunch driven by one of the world’s lowest birth rates, the reliance on foreign labour is likely to spread more broadly in this increasingly mature economy.”
Tags: Birth rates, Dangerous, Demographics, Difficult, Dirty, Foreign labour, Immigrants, Mature economy, Migrant workers, Population, South Korea
The Economist (March 16)
America’s “debt is rising, its population is ageing in a budget-threatening way, its schools are mediocre by international standards, its infrastructure rickety, its regulations dense, its tax code byzantine, its immigration system hare-brained—and it has fallen from first position in the World Economic Forum’s competitiveness rankings to seventh in just four years.” But “dysfunction in Washington is only one side of America’s story…. There is also another America, where things work.” The successful side of America can be seen in the improving performance of the real economy where “businesses and politicians are not waiting for the federal government to ride to their rescue.”
Tags: Businesses, Debt, Dysfunction, Government, Population, Real economy, Regulations, U.S., WEF
The Economist (January 26)
China has reached a major turning point. The number of working-age Chinese fell by a total of 3.45 million in 2012. “The mobilisation of Chinese labour over the past 35 years has shaken the world. Never before has the global economy benefited from such an addition of extra human exertion. Now the additions are over.” With the 15 – 24 year old population expected to decrease by 21% over the next decade, “the shrinking of the working-age population will put downward pressure on the saving rate and upward pressure on wages.” Urbanization and productivity enhancements may lessen the blow, if underutilized workers from the countryside take up more efficient positions in cities.
Tags: China, Economy, Labor pool, Population, Savings, Urbanization, Wages, Working age population
The Atlantic (June 23)
As China has boomed so have obesity rates. “The number of Chinese people who are obese quintupled between 2005 and 2011, to nearly 100 million people. The World Health Organization estimates that 38.5 percent of the population was overweight in 2010, up from 25 percent in 2002. Male children from high-income families have an especially high rate of obesity.”
As China has boomed so have obesity rates. “The number of Chinese people who are obese quintupled between 2005 and 2011, to nearly 100 million people. The World Health Organization estimates that 38.5 percent of the population was overweight in 2010, up from 25 percent in 2002. Male children from high-income families have an especially high rate of obesity.”
Tags: China, Obesity, Overweight, Population, WHO
Guardian (June 8)
Japan’s human population may be declining, but the pet population has reached massive proportions. “Startlingly, in a country panicking over its plummeting birthrate, there are now many more pets than children. While the birthrate has been falling dramatically and the average age of Japan’s population has been steadily climbing, Japan has become a pet superpower. Official estimates put the pet population at 22 million or more, but there are only 16.6 million children under 15.”
Japan’s human population may be declining, but the pet population has reached massive proportions. “Startlingly, in a country panicking over its plummeting birthrate, there are now many more pets than children. While the birthrate has been falling dramatically and the average age of Japan’s population has been steadily climbing, Japan has become a pet superpower. Official estimates put the pet population at 22 million or more, but there are only 16.6 million children under 15.”
Tags: Birthrate, Children, Japan, Pets, Population
Washington Post (May 18)
“America’s complexion is changing, literally.” Unlike Japan and many European countries, America’s population has continued to grow, largely thanks to immigrants. As a result, “minorities now account for more than half the babies born in America, a milestone in the path toward what demographers forecast will be an overall majority-minority population in 30 years.”
Tags: Demographics, Europe, Immigration, Japan, Minorities, Population, U.S.
Washington Post （April 6）
“The world’s most significant social, political and economic development is its aging population….Within five years, for the first time in history, the number of adults 65 and older will exceed the number of children younger than 5, the World Health Organization reports. By mid-century, this demographic will outnumber children younger than 14, and more than 2 billion of the people on Earth will be 60 or older.”
“The world’s most significant social, political and economic development is its aging population….Within five years, for the first time in history, the number of adults 65 and older will exceed the number of children younger than 5, the World Health Organization reports. By mid-century, this demographic will outnumber children younger than 14, and more than 2 billion of the people on Earth will be 60 or older.”
Tags: Aging, Demographics, Population, WHO
Washington Post (December 5)
With world leaders gathered in South Africa, global attention is on climate change. However, the president of the World Wildlife Fund “argues that the leading environmental challenge of this century won’t be global warming. It will be feeding people.” Global population could hit 10 billion people by 2100 and 70% of arable land is already used for food production. The scale of the challenge is enormous.
The Economist (November 19)The Economist (November 19)
Japan’s lost decades are not so bad when seen in light of a decreasing population. “In aggregate, Japan’s economy grew at half the pace of America’s between 2001 and 2010. Yet if judged by growth in GDP per person over the same period, then Japan has outperformed America and the euro zone.”
Japan’s lost decades are not so bad when seen in light of a decreasing population. “In aggregate, Japan’s economy grew at half the pace of America’s between 2001 and 2010. Yet if judged by growth in GDP per person over the same period, then Japan has outperformed America and the euro zone.”
Tags: GDP, Growth, Japan, Lost decades, Population, U.S.
