Stephan: Based on all the research I have done for the past 30 years I do not believe, although it is a common meme, that overpopulation is going to be an issue in the future. This research report provides one of the reasons I believe as I do.
Since the dawn of humans, we have faced one inexorable challenge — how to support the rise and — in the last half century or so — explosion of the population. But, in a momentous reversal, that age-old challenge is changing: the population of most countries is shrinking — for many of them at an alarming pace — and at the same time aging.
Much of the world teeters on the cusp of a childless, elderly future.
Why it matters: A growing, youthful population is typically a bedrock sign of vitality. In the industrial age, that’s included a growing economy, greater opportunity, advancing technology, and a more comfortable retirement for older people. The turnaround on all continents except Africa means supporting an increasing number of retired people with many fewer workers, and confronts the world with two primary solutions, both of them controversial.
- Loosen up currently fraught politics around migration from still-growing countries.
- Or populate our countries with robot helpers.
Whichever the case, almost no one seems prepared. People are going to have to work longer, experts say. And […]
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Robert Channick, Contact Reporter - Chicago Tribune
Stephan: The rest of the developed world is trying to get out of carbon energy as fast as possible, but here in the United States, well things are different. This is a truly stupid legislative move in Illinois, and it is the work of a Democrat, demonstrating that dumbness is not partisan.
Nicoletta Skarlatos, of Chicago, stands May 9, 2019, with the Tesla Model S that she purchased to avoid having to pay to keep a gas tank filled. Skarlatos and other owners of electric cars may be facing a $1,000 annual state registration fee for electric cars.
Credit: Warren Skalski/Chicago Tribune
A proposed hike in Illinois’ annual registration fee for electric vehicles, from $17.50 to $1,000, is being called unfair by current EV owners, and a sales disincentive by manufacturers — just as the new technology is beginning to gain broader traction.
“It’s outrageous,” said Nicoletta Skarlatos, 56, of Chicago, who bought a Tesla Model S five years ago. “I thought Illinois was progressive and would want to encourage EV ownership.”
Aimed at raising money to make overdue road improvements across Illinois, the proposed legislation would also more than double the state’s gas tax to 44 cents a gallon and raise the registration fee for standard vehicles to $148, from $98, among other elements.
But the kicker is a nearly 60-fold […]
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Stephan: Here is another cultural meme that is debunked by actual data.
A barn decorated with a mural inspired by Grant Wood’s painting, “American Gothic,” is seen in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, January 25, 2015. Artist Mark Benesh recreated the original which was painted by Grant Wood. Iowa, the American heartland. Endless farm fields and quiet towns. 56,273 square miles that are soon to become the focus of the nation as the long process of electing the next U.S. president begins.
Credit: Reuters/Jim Young
Rates of obesity worldwide have nearly tripled since 1975, and the prevailing belief is that city living is to blame. But a major study that covers 112 million adults suggests that weight gain in rural areas is responsible for much of this increase.
Members of the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration — an international group of health scientists — analyzed over 2,000 studies of how body mass index (BMI) has changed around the world from 1985 to 2017. (BMI is a height-to-weight ratio that is a popular measure of obesity, though not without its flaws.) The results, published today in the […]
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