From: Tiberius Gracchus (cryofan@mylinuxisp.com)
Date: Thu Aug 30 2001 - 06:28:57 MDT
On Thu, 30 Aug 2001 12:09:19 +0100, you wrote:
>See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/population/Story/0,2763,544116,00.html
>
>Executive summary: population growth is slowing, people are living
>longer. This means that the elderly population is about to bloat,
>while the work force shrinks. End result: an "ageing recession". Former
>Japanese prime minister blames country's woes on demographic shift that
>took years to recognize; Centre for Strategic and International Studies
>asserts that half the economic growth since 1950 mirrored growth in the
>work force, and a shrinking workforce means negative growth.
>
>Folks, we _need_ those anti-ageing treatments. Badly!
Right! we need to be able to keep working and working even as we get
older and older. I want to live forever so I can keep going to the
office and working and working....
This article, the assumption made by its author, and your response to
it, exemplify very well common misconceptions about economics made by
the media.
I don't have much time to make my arguments ( I have to go to work!),
but I'll simply point out that the assumptions made by the author make
perfect sense if the country of Japan were a business entity owned by
the author. However, the company of Japan is a business owned by its
citizens. The same concept applies to all western democracies, and all
of us.
This is a *crucial* difference!
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