Age & Reason

Age & Reason

Why It’s Time to Prepare to Live to 100

The Fiscal TimesOctober 5, 2015

In Geneva this week the World Health Organization (WHO) sent a wake-up call to its  194 member governments and its fellow global institutions to open their eyes to what’s staring them in the face: a world that will soon have more old than young; a world where people over 80 is the fastest growing demographic segment; a world where planning for 100 years of life is for the first time in history the norm.

This is...

Robert De Niro Is Not Old: The Impact of Cinema on Aging

The Fiscal TimesAugust 19, 2015

When Hollywood and top clothing designers converge on a theme, it's probably worth paying attention.

In the fashion world, Women's Wear Daily reported last year on the $21 billion market in fashion for boomers. With a billion people over 60, why wouldn't the likes of Michael Kors, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein and Robert Verdi design for us?

The over-60 demographic in America holds over 70% of the country’s disposable income. While the...

A Look at Medicare on Its 50th Birthday

The Fiscal TimesAugust 1, 2015

Happy 50th birthday, Medicare! In just 15 years, you’ll qualify for federally funded health insurance. Well, maybe. The fiscal situation of the program is growing increasingly delicate, so don’t hold your breath. 

On this monumental occasion, one is reminded of a quip so often found in birthday cards: Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional. 

This may seem like a passing wisecrack, but there’s a deep truth lurking beneath the humor. And it applies well to Medicare: The program has grown old, and it’s time it grows up. ...

How the ‘Silver Economy’ Could Get Us to 4 Percent Growth

The Fiscal TimesJuly 17, 2015

Public and private leaders gathered at the once-a-decade White House Conference on Aging (WHCOA) this past Monday. The goal of the conference was to focus on the “opportunities of aging.”

Also this past week,  Americans all over the country praised, condemned, vilified and embraced Jeb Bush’s call for us to “work longer hours.” Though Jeb has since recalibrated his remarks, the media storm rages on.

If these two events seem unrelated, they’re not. Both are concerned...

Rethinking the TPP: How Free Trade Can Lead to Healthy Aging -- and Economic Growth

The Fiscal TimesJuly 13, 2015

President Obama and the Republicans have finally agreed on something: the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The TPP, as it’s come to be known, is a mammoth proposition that would build new economic bridges between the U.S., Japan, Mexico, Singapore, Vietnam and more than a half-dozen other nations. Yet despite this surprising agreement between the President and the GOP...

The Greek Debt Crisis Contains Warnings for All Nations

The Fiscal TimesJuly 1, 2015

If the Greeks have the political courage to finally and completely address their debt problems, they could become a leader in Europe and the world on how to achieve economic growth in the 21st century. Beyond paying what they owe to Europe and the IMF, their real issue is to fix --once and for all -- the underlying structural causes of the current crisis. 

According to the IMF, one of the most important problem in Greece is pension reform. Greek debt is...

The Longevity Dividend from an Aging Population

The Fiscal TimesJune 25, 2015

As the 2016 American presidential campaign gets rolling, it will be interesting to see how the candidates outline their strategies for dealing with an aging population. The candidate who gets it right will not talk about how to deal with more “old people,” but how to drive economic growth as aging demographics shape productivity, labor participation and financial planning.

Indeed, a central issue with America’s aging population –...

The Class of 2015 Could Witness the Next Century

The Fiscal TimesMay 18, 2015

Class of 2015, it is an honor to address you today on this monumental occasion. I’m a bit surprised by the invitation, to be honest. I’m not in movies, I have no guitar, and I do not and never will hold public office.

Instead, I spend my life working with business and public policy leaders to transform this thing called “population aging” into one of the 21st century’s great opportunities.

By asking me to address you, I am assuming...

Even Fashion Sees the Power of Aging Boomers

The Fiscal TimesApril 27, 2015

After more than 100 years in print, Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) on Apr. 27 officially goes all-digital. In its final print edition three days earlier, Turning The Page, the editors announce: “Today we say goodbye to an old friend, a morning habit for generations. This is the final newsprint edition of WWD…Today, there’s nothing cyclical about news. It’s Instant Media. A global Niagara of information in a river of technology…” To which one can only say, “Duh!” 

But as yet another publication surrenders to technology’s disrupting impact on information, it...

A Closed School in Scranton Opens a New Window on Aging

The Fiscal TimesApril 13, 2015

Audubon Elementary School in Scranton, Pennsylvania, has long been scheduled for demolition. The school has sat empty for four years ever since mold was discovered in the old building’s basement. 

But mold really isn’t the reason – nor is the leaky roof. This school – my own elementary alma mater, as it turns out – is scheduled for destruction because Scranton is subject to the...