The World is Struggling to Manage its Aging Population

Debusmann has reported from more than 100 countries. He was shot twice – once covering a battle in Beirut and once in an assassination attempt prompted by his reporting on Syria.

By Bernd Debusmann 

Call it baby bust and oldster boom — two trends that signal a demographic transformation without precedent in human history.

In much of the world, declining birth rates and longer life spans are combining to create a phenomenon demographers call global aging. It brings both problems and opportunities that are hard to fathom and require…