The Fight Against Dementia Gets Two New Warriors
May 15, 2013
It’s not often that a British prime minister and a Broadway musical sing from the same songbook. But that’s what’s happening in New York this week. David Cameron is announcing that a top priority of the G8 presidency will be fighting dementia – while, over at the Duke Theatre in Manhattan, the musical “The Memory Show” has debuted, dramatizing the devastation families suffer when dealing with Alzheimer’s.
If history is any guide, this unwitting confluence between politics and art may mean big things for Alzheimer’s. In the 1980s and 1990s, the fight against…
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Why Rapid Aging Can Enable Rapid Economic Growth
May 01, 2013
There is not much light on the economic horizon for most OECD nations – while the developing world appears to have a bright future, according to the International Monetary Fund’s new report, World Economic Outlook. Perhaps what the IMF analysts have in mind is the inability of Europeans to find a formula for growth ever since the Great Recession, which hit the continent especially hard.
Demography, however, is not destiny. The countries that are thriving, excluding China, are aging slowly. And those that are struggling are aging quickly. The Europeans have some of…
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Why Adult Vaccination Is An Economic No-Brainer
April 15, 2013
As top health and policy officials gather in Washington this week for the World Vaccine Congress and Expo, a gap in their agenda will almost surely be the vital issue of adult vaccination – even at a time when global populations are aging rapidly. This would be a pity and a huge missed opportunity.
With older populations dominating global demographics, adult immunization could be a tremendous driver of health and wellness efforts, much as childhood vaccination was for children in the latter part of the 20th century, when youth was a dominant force.…
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3 Vital Lessons on Aging, Jobs and the Economy
April 10, 2013
As all eyes focus on federal budget battles, let’s not glide too smoothly past America’s latest jobs report from this past Friday: It’s a blunt indicator of the structural economic challenges that are still with us since the Great Recession.
America’s jobs challenge and Europe’s slogging fiscal crisis are both, at their core, about the underlying demographic changes in our societies. There is still a profound mismatch between the economic and social programs of the 20th century and this century’s new and evolving demographics. We’re living longer and working longer…
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How Being Age Friendly Can Save the Economy
March 25, 2013
America should become the first-ever “age-friendly country,” urged Dr. John Beard of the World Health Organization (WHO) recently during a conference in Chicago that shared fresh ways of looking at aging populations today. The U.S. could be instrumental in transforming a view of aging from an outdated model of dependence and disability – the way we once thought of our grandparents – to a model that emphasizes health, activity and economic value for America in the 21st century.
Why is this notion so earth shattering? Because it’s in stark contrast to the outdated…
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Paul Ryan and the New Reality of Aging
March 11, 2013
Congressman Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, indicated over the weekend that as part of the budget proposal he’s unveiling this Tuesday, he’ll seek to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, or as he put it on Fox News Sunday, “repeal Obamacare.”
With the sequester a firm reality – at least for now – Washington has moved along to other serious discussions about the nation’s long-term debt. And it is Congressman Ryan’s point that when it comes to entitlement spending, saving Medicare will require changes as to who gets the benefit and at what age,…
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