America is Getting Old: The Threat of an Aging Population
Michael Medina
Physical Security & Business Continuity | Threat & Crisis Management | Creative Strategist | Veteran
While the forces of demography are felt worldwide, the effects vary depending on where on the spectrum you lie. Many developing countries residing in the African continent and the Middle East are at the young end, with the majority of their populations in the under 25 category. Conversely, for many developed regions, the shift is headed in the opposite direction, with populations growing increasingly older. Today, most of the world’s oldest countries reside in Europe and parts of Asia, but the Americas are quickly catching up. For some time now, Americans looked across the globe and viewed aging as a problem that plagued other countries, particularly Japan. However, no longer just a source of speculation, the realities of population age shift are here, and leaders will no longer be able to ignore the economic, security, and social impacts that an aging American population presents. While the ‘how’ we arrived to this point is certainly possible of being quantified and explained, the economic and security consequences of a “grey America” are far more complex and elusive.
This article originally appeared on my blog, TheReflectionBank.com .