Economist and scientist Dr Tan Sri Lin See-Yan (Dr Lin) examines the economic impacts of the long term shrinkage of the world population.
European countries, Australia, Taiwan and Japan for many years have been relying on immigration to maintain their population, China will stop growing by 2030 and India by 2050. Dr Lin busts many population myths and examines the economic impact of demographics.
Prepare to be surprised.
One unexpected fact brought to light in the article is that the USA is alone among the world’s major nations in having increased its fertility rate in recent years. Where as all the other developed nations have had declining birth rates for decades and have not replaced their population since the seventies or eighties, the USA reversed this trend in the eighties and now has a birth rate higher than its death rate.
If this continues, Dr Lin argues, this means that it will have a significant economic advantage in the second half of this century.