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Dean Baker — The NYT Is Worried that China Is Running Out of People

Summary:
Seriously, this is a topic of a major article in the paper. The story is that low birth rates over the last four decades mean that fewer people will be entering the labor force and this is supposed to be really bad news. "The declining population could create an even greater burden on China’s economy and its labor force. With fewer workers in the future, the government could struggle to pay for a population that is growing older and living longer."A decline in the working-age population could also slow consumer spending and thus have an impact on the economy in China and beyond."Many compare China’s demographic crisis to the one that stalled Japan’s economic boom in the 1990s." The overwhelming majority of China's extraordinary growth over the last four decades has been due to

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Seriously, this is a topic of a major article in the paper. The story is that low birth rates over the last four decades mean that fewer people will be entering the labor force and this is supposed to be really bad news.
"The declining population could create an even greater burden on China’s economy and its labor force. With fewer workers in the future, the government could struggle to pay for a population that is growing older and living longer.

"A decline in the working-age population could also slow consumer spending and thus have an impact on the economy in China and beyond.

"Many compare China’s demographic crisis to the one that stalled Japan’s economic boom in the 1990s."
The overwhelming majority of China's extraordinary growth over the last four decades has been due to increased productivity, not more workers in the workforce.
Substitution of capital for labor results in increased productivity through technology and higher levels of knowledge and skills. The world is automating and robotizing.

The challenge won't be that there are not enough people but rather that there won't be enough paid work for all the people in an economic system in which income is dependent on paid work.

Beat the Press
The NYT Is Worried that China Is Running Out of People
Dean Baker | Co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C

Mike Norman
Mike Norman is an economist and veteran trader whose career has spanned over 30 years on Wall Street. He is a former member and trader on the CME, NYMEX, COMEX and NYFE and he managed money for one of the largest hedge funds and ran a prop trading desk for Credit Suisse.

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