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Monday 13th February

The Age Of Aging By George Magnus

Posted at 11:30AM Tuesday 30 Dec 2008

Demographic cycles are immensely powerful, and move just fast enough to cause occasional outbursts of panic. The western world intermittently gives in to fears about population extinction and Malthusian famine. The 1930s brought us titles such as The Twilight of Parenthood, while the 1960s gave us The Population Bomb. The new terror for the west is a large, aged population: the popular literature frets that future generations – usually Americans – are already doomed to penury because of the rising costs of medical bills and pension payments.

Magnus's account avoids the hysteria that often affects this genre. He level-headedly discusses the west's ageing problem with an explanation of the developing world's demographic conundrums.

Financial Times Review

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