“The world is on the threshold of what might be called ‘peak people.’ The world’s supply of working-age people will soon be shrinking, causing a shift from surplus to scarcity. As with ‘peak oil’ theories, the claims of the doomsayers are too hyperbolic and hysterical. These are not existential threats but rather policy challenges. That said, they’re very big policy challenges. Peak people will be an age when jobs compete for workers rather than vice versa. The cheapest labor will vanish. Stuff from China will stop being cheap, because the Chinese aren’t young. Peak people will also be an age when countries will be competing for immigrants rather than trying to limit them. It will require nimble and clever policies to prevent us from becoming old and lonely.”
Doug Saunders in the Toronto Globe and Mail
The Week
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