Israel, Where the Baby Boom Lives On

Israel has the talent, energy, and desire to play a key role in the war on aging.

by Patrick Cox
January 4, 2018

There are many factors that contribute to the West's general economic malaise. The biggest and most intractable though is aging demographics. The cost of care for the elderly (especially health care) takes up an increasingly larger percentage of resources as the population ages.

Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid have grown to make up about half of the US federal budget. This is the only part of the federal budget, other than debt service, that is growing in proportion to the total.

At the same time, the number of people paying into the system is falling due to sub-replacement birthrates. There appears to be no viable political solution to this quandary.

It is difficult if not impossible to solve this problem by increasing taxes or cutting spending. Higher taxes take resources from the private sector, which slows economic growth in the long run. On the other hand, spending cuts prompt political outrage. As a result, the US and many other countries are en…