One is Europe's aging population.

But what there is no solution for is Europe s aging.

Second, Japanese society is aging fast.

The needs of aging populations will add to these pressures.

However, aging will keep the saving rate from falling at the same pace.

In China, labor inputs have fallen as a result of declining fertility and an aging population.

Europe and Japan are both facing difficult challenges, including rapidly aging populations and sputtering economies.

Japan s aging population mutes the potential impact of both the wealth effect and animal spirits.

Issues that we once regarded as medium term are becoming more urgent.

The aging population is straining the public pension and healthcare systems beyond sustainability.

It would be convenient if global demographics were distributed in such a way that aging countries could run surpluses just when younger countries needed the capital.

The population is aging at an accelerating rate, and the net flow of working age citizens into the labor force has turned negative.

The aging of developed markets is well known, but the latest data show that emerging markets are aging at an even faster pace.

On this view, an aging population means a fatter population in the United States, China, Japan, and much of Europe.

Moreover, as Japan s society ages, the household savings rate will decrease dramatically.

First, with its birth rate well below replacement level, Japan s population is aging and shrinking.

Encouraging lifelong learning will help people adapt their skills and knowledge to the demands of a changing economy. And with higher life expectancy, raising the retirement age is a further sensible way to address the negative effects of an aging population.

The PRC s population is aging, real wages are rising, and growth is moderating toward more sustainable rates.

Rich and aging countries may finally become promoters, rather than opponents, of free trade in food.

Aging populations and lower fertility rates in the new member states might result in even smaller flows.

And, regardless of technological trends, other secular trends, such as aging populations in most advanced countries, are taking a toll on growth prospects as well.

And both face serious demographic problems, given shrinking and aging populations, as well as the challenge of Asia s rising superpowers.

As the population ages and shrinks, more people will retire and start selling those government bonds that they are now lapping up.

It is not necessarily bad for Asia s traditionally high savings rates to fall after all, consumption typically rises with an aging population.

In developed countries, too, many advocate a greater role for the state, in order to ensure that promised social benefits are delivered to rapidly aging populations.

Of course, specific priorities vary by country. For example, in aging societies, loneliness and long term health become particularly important.

Moreover, even if it never had a financial crisis, Japan would have been plagued by adverse demographics, as its population is both aging and shrinking.

Japan is aging even faster, and economic stagnation is reducing domestic savings, while the public debt is approaching 200 of GDP.

In this respect, Europe is not much better, although its current restrictive immigration policies will likely be eased over the next decade or so. No such assumption can be made about Japan, where an aging population will intensify the closed and intellectually arid nature of its society.

Issues confronting Europe, Japan, and to a lesser extent the United States and some middle income countries concerning aging populations are manageable.

Over the longer term, most economists agree that governments, especially in advanced industrial countries with aging populations, should be concerned about the sustainability of their policies.

As countries populations age and their fertility rates collapse, more migration will be necessary to ensure economic competitiveness and finance pension and health care systems.

Aging populations in most advanced economies imply additional public debt in the long term, owing to non fully funded pension schemes and rising health care costs.

And, in advanced countries, a larger female labor force can help to counteract the impact of a shrinking workforce and mitigate the costs of an aging population.

Perhaps worse, some also spent more than they could easily repay, given their economies declining long term growth potential because of the aging of their populations.

In this context, Europe may be a tired, aging, and depressed continent, but, as its luxury and aeronautics industries attest, it would be premature to bury it.

And, while aging could be transformed into an opportunity if the elderly could be made more productive, this requires action at the national and societal levels, not more European integration.

That is good news for farmers and consumers around the world. Rich and aging countries may finally become promoters, rather than opponents, of free trade in food.

Europe is aging and will lose 20 million people by 2030, while the southern Mediterranean has a dynamic young population that desperately needs job opportunities.

Little wonder, then, that the Commission has issued a warning that crisis related fiscal expansion and the aging population raise questions about the sustainability of public finances in the EU.

An aging US population will cause social benefits to rise rapidly, pushing the debt to more than 100 of GDP and accelerating its rate of increase.

The US is a net debtor with an aging population, unfunded entitlement spending on social security and health care, an anemic economic recovery, and risks of continued monetization of the fiscal deficit.

A higher rate of global migration is desirable for four reasons it is a source of innovation and dynamism it responds to labor shortages it meets the challenges posed by rapidly aging populations and it provides an escape from poverty and persecution.

Aging, the Final Frontier

Old Age and Survivors' Benefits