The Economy and the Future

[Politics]

Even today our economy is making massive changes, but where will it lead us?

Many things effect the economy, but one of the biggest determiner are the lives and the span of which of the people driving it. New studies have shown that life expectances have increased dramatically, and will only increase further. While I'm usually a sceptic against statistics and studies, this one intregued me.

Source: BBC news

"Shripad Tuljapurkar of Stanford University says anti-ageing advances could raise life expectancy by a year each year over the next two decades..."

"...Based on this, he came up with a scenario in which anti-ageing technologies will increase the most common age of death by one year per year between 2010 and 2030..."

"...He found that his projected trends in life expectancy would have profound effects on the economy, lifestyle and population demographics."

"...'It might be possible to go through two mortgages, for example, or even have 50-year or 75-year mortgages,' Dr Tuljapurkar explained..."

"...However these trends would also create a "permanent underclass" of countries where opportunities for increased life expectancy were not the same as in the industrialised world..."

This is just one of many changes that will revolutionize, the question is; is it for the better?

(Take a short break from reading with Roger Moore's fantabulous eyebrows)

The next thing to consider is if our economy will still be ours in 40 years. Outsourcing is becoming hugely popular, and even with imposed terriffs, savings well into the billions are made every quarter, and it's still on the rise.

Source: Business week (Remember; Business week is biased to big business)

"Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) is on a tear. On Feb. 9 the company surprised investors with fourth-quarter 2005 earnings of $57.7 million, a year-over-year increase of 89%. Even without the benefit of a one-time tax gain, earnings were still 50% higher than in the comparable period of 2004..."

"...Outsourcing started as a way for companies to realize the benefits of lower costs. Later, they realized they could improve the quality of much of their work by taking advantage of excellent workforces. Now they are coming to understand that companies like Cognizant can help them assemble teams and projects much faster than they could in the U.S..."

"...Is the trend toward outsourcing anywhere near its peak? No. The amount of IT outsourcing is small right now..."

"...That may be good at the company level, but how will this play out for countries and the people who live in them? When it comes to areas such as innovation and development, the U.S. still is unchallenged. As other countries develop, the demand for higher-end U.S. services will grow. The U.S. needs to make sure its workforce is trained to meet that demand..." (They don't address the question.)

If trends continue, pumping money out of North America will lead to a recession. Will the economic power of the U.S.A continue on for atleast the remainder of our life time, or are we the last generation for the next millenium to see a powerful Western world?

What will the future hold?

[adamsaysmoesgay]

aren't we already in a recession?

[Politics]

At 2/18/06 09:48 PM, adamsaysmoesgay wrote: aren't we already in a recession?

I was refering to the entire Western world, or atleast trying to. Maybe "recession" wasn't a strong enough term.

[PharaohRamsesII]

Heh, you can't say for certain. But once China and India, and more parts of Africa get into the World Market more and more, We are going to see prices for everything rise by quite a bit. With this you would see our own western economic dominance begin to decline. The world can only produce so much, and so as the more Africa and the Asian nations get developed, the less everyone is going to get. I would not be surprised if Western Monopoly on Economics is broken in 15 years.

[Politics]

At 2/18/06 11:16 PM, PharaohRamsesII wrote:

Indeed. But I'm a bit disapointed. I thought Roger Moore's eyebrows would warrent atleast 10 posts in this thread. Tisk, I guess people just don't like to speculate.