EconAir

  AGING POPULATION, LABOR FORCE AND ECONOMIC GROWTH The U.S. birth rate is not only below replacement but it is the lowest since records began in 1909. The United States’ population is expected to increase about 10% (30 million people) over the next 10 years; this assumes the recent levels of immigration that are higher than the reduced levels announced by President Trump. Some statistics on the aging of the U.S. population:   .     According to the Census Bureau, by 2030, the number of Americans age 65 and older will have increased by 20 million.    .     At that point, one in five Americans will be 65 or older, which is up from less than one in 10 in 1960.    .     By 2060, the Population Reference Bureau expects the number of Americans 65 and older to more than double from 46 million today to over 98 million.    .     In less than two decades, older adults are set to outnumber kids (under 18) for the first time in US history.      All of the population increase in 10 or 20 years wil

Why Study Rome? Americans have focused on comparisons between Rome and America twice in American history.  The first time was during the period from before the Revolution to after the ratification of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, when the founding fathers and others looked to the Roman Republic for ideas and inspiration on how to structure the new government. After the American Revolution, the founding fathers, having read the Roman authors detailing the collapse of the Roman republic, worried about internal threats to the survival of their new republic.   The second time was when the United States became a superpower, especially after WWII, and then again after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Commentators compared America to the Roman Empire at the height of its power. There was some discussion about how America becoming a permanent warfare state would affect democracy and civil society. And now a third time. Have Americans an