WPR's The New Rules: Extended Life Expectancy Globalization's Next Political Battleground

Monday, January 23, 2012 at 11:39AM
Thomas P.M. Barnett in WPR Column, demographics, global economy, global middle class, global trends, healthcare

Human life expectancy at birth, which remained stunningly fixed for thousands of years before suddenly doubling over the course of the 20th century, now seems destined to experience a similarly bold leap across the 21st century. When it does, it will shift human thinking about population control from its present focus on the outset of life to the increasingly delayed final curtain. The problem is that the technological advances that will make extending life expectancy possible are likely to come far faster than our political systems -- including the democracies -- can handle. 

Read the entire column at World Politics Review.

Article originally appeared on Thomas P.M. Barnett (https://thomaspmbarnett.com/).