Demography is rightly placed first. Youth is short and life is long, therefore the political and economic implications of an ageing population are huge. In Australia for example, the biggest ticket item for government spending is ‘assistance to the aged’, $70 billion out of a total budget of $500 billion. This is distinct from the money spent on health, which is also heavily skewed towards the elderly. I am not making a value judgement on government spending, but the numbers suggest we will be locked in a cycle where spending on the elderly will continue to be a dominant factor in government spending for the next 30 years.
What will be interesting to see is how the governments keep finding the money.
Wealth, assets and money always are transferring hands. 30 years from now all wealth of bill gates could have been distributed to trusts, funds and next generations. i.e. We are continuously adding assets to what we already have, at global scale. ( And debt to the environment. ) I wonder what would be tipping or balance point.
What will be interesting to see is how the governments keep finding the money.