Well, I don’t see why I should be the only one with brain-ache as I try to grapple with the sort of intractable problems that the likes of Tyler Durham throw up at Zero Hedge. Today he’s on about Chinese population stats – hey! – stop! – where are you going? – it’s really interesting – honestly!
The Chinese economy is becoming increasingly soggy. Like the Japanese before them, their incredible economic growth was built on the backs of ‘coolie’ labor who poured into the new factories to make things infinitely cheaper than we in the west could make them. But now it’s pay-back time and the ‘coolies’ want their place in the sun, that is, shorter hours and more money! And now, or at least, in the very near future, they will be in a position to push their demands because the working population, those from 15-64, is on the cusp of a massive shrinking:
Needless to say, because it was always obvious to everyone except the blind Malthusians of yesteryear, the obscene ‘one child policy’ enforced in China has exacerbated the situation. This chart shows the projected differences in the working populations of China and America up to 2055. It’s worth reminding ourselves (us Brits, that is) that our working population, too, has grown enormously in the past few years due in no small part to immigration which has helped produce a relatively healthy, bustling economy.
However, as I have mentioned before – were you paying attention? No, I thought not, take a hundred lines! – there is the potential – I put it no higher – of a painful shock approaching ‘the workers’ and their governments in the form of robotics in the widest sense of that word. Thus, it may be that those countries crammed full of workers might find themselves in difficulties as the industrialists switch to robotics and the workers suddenly find themselves to be, er, ex-workers!
Oh dear, my head is aching so I’ll finish here . . .