Life expectancy worldwide has risen 20 years in the last 50 years – amazing!! This has meant that chronic disease (e.g., Alzheimers, Parkinsons) are now more prevalent and costly than sudden diseases (cancer, heart disease). David Bloom, professor of economics and demography at Harvard noted that, “If progress is built on capital and labor, the aged give neither.” So can societies afford old age? It now appears, according to Bloom, that with birth rates rising in many countries, that there will be enough people in the work force to support the growing groups of aged. And older people will be working longer, further relieving the social support burden.
via George F. Colony’s Blog: The Counterintuitive CEO: Davos 2010.
