Low fertility affects populations, but slowly, because people live for 80 years or so. Cuba doesn’t have a fertility problem, it has a “I don’t want to live here any more” problem. There can be a snowball effect – the more of your relatives have fled to Florida, the more appealing it becomes to go …
Author Archives: Rob Skelton
Russia goes Authoritative / Next Level on Fertility
It has been clear over the last few years that incentives and positive reinforcement are not helping stem reduced fertility levels in countries globally. At best they are making the decline less bad, but not stopping it. For counties with an iron grip over their citizens, unimaginable responses might occur. Keep in mind China’s historical, …
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11 Million Empty Homes in Japan
Japan has millions of abandoned rural houses for sale. The glut delights foreigners, who’ve been able to buy one for as little as US$23,000. But underlying the surplus are meaningful shifts in Japan’s culture. Demographic and economic patterns – including a shrinking population and migration from the countryside to cities – are combining to create a …
Nobody Wants 9 Billion People
There are plenty of individuals and communities who want more babies, and more people. I am an example of that – my former wife and I only stopped at three children because we had to – otherwise we adore them and would have wanted at least one more. Churches of course like a larger flock …
When Will Population Peak in Your Country
This graph from Statista accounts for fertility decline and current rates of immigration, to come up when actual population will start to decline in some countries
Econo-Terrorism for Depopulation to Save the Planet
In the last couple of years, the subject of population decline has become topical, with even Elon Mush mentioning it a few times. And rightly so. Not only is it well-known (because of Japan leading the charge) that the new population pyramid will mean more retired people and fewer workers. there is also the barely …
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Tokyo Dating App – Another Weak Response
When one of the globe’s largest economies is facing a demographic crisis, throwing $3M at an app won’t help, especially when it is run by the Tokyo government. Absurdly: Japanese media reports that said the app will require a confirmation of identity, such as a driver’s license, your tax records to prove income and a …
Desperate Immigrarion Measures to Boost GDP
The rich world is in the midst of an unprecedented migration boom. Last year 3.3m more people moved to America than left, almost four times typical levels in the 2010s. Canada took in 1.9m immigrants. Britain welcomed 1.2m people and Australia 740,000. In each country the number was greater than ever before. For Australia and …
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Hong Kong – Cash Bonus for Babies
Every advanced economy except the US is suffering from a fertility rate that is too low. While immigration can offset that, not many people are keen at present to move to Hong Kong, given all of its recent problems. People have been leaving, of course. The number of children being born in Hong Kong each …
Japan’s $38B Child Care Plan
That’s $38 billion (USD) annually. While it sounds like a lot, it actually isn’t much relative to the severity of their situation. Politicians would rather have small failures over larger ones… “This will bring our country’s spending per child on families to the level of Sweden,” said Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. In other words, socialism is …