Very interesting. But, I think the solutions will, ultimately, depend on productivity - AI, robotics, automation. He didn’t discuss that, the talk was, basically, about implications for Human Resources.
Another thing - more so in Europe than in the US, people used to worry about the “Polish plumber” - who will come and be willing to work for less than their domestic (German, French) plumbers. Now, this will end up turning upside down - we may have to deal with MIT-trained plumbers (that’s perhaps an exaggeration - let’s say, college grad plumbers). What that will mean - for the educational system, for the costs of “plumber” services - I don’t know.
I was always suspicious about the idea that in order to support the old, a nation needs an ever growing number of young, working age people. They would have to be either born in the given country, or imported via immigration. The math doesn’t add up - those young workers will keep growing old and retiring, and you can’t grow a population infinitely. |
