| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:IMF | |
| Posted by: | Davy Jones | |
| Date/Time: | 28/08/25 17:08:00 |
| The expert is Robin Hodgson With contributions from: Sir Jonathon Porritt, Professor David Miles,Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, Luke Daniel, Robin Maynard, Professor Michael Clarke,Professor Sarah Harper, Professor James Sefton and Dr Madeleine Sumption - 'Don't stop thinking about tomorrow' Ive got that song in my head now 'But, even setting aside the fact that it is GDP per capita that matters for average standards of living – and growth in population does not obviously boost it – there are serious problems with the idea that faster population growth can consistently alleviate fiscal problems. New people – either children born here or older people arriving as migrants – consume public services and do so to a greater extent at older ages when their likely contribution to taxes to fund spending on public services falls away. So, even if there is a gain in the fiscal position for a while, it fades. And to hold demographic structure steady, and halt the decline in the ratio of those above (an arbitrary) line between the elderly and the working age populations, requires ever rising population. I first illustrate this final point before considering in more detail the lifecycle pattern of taxes paid and public services used, so as to assess whether more rapid increases in population can help solve problems of fiscal unsustainability.' https://www.dontstopthinkingabouttomorrow.co.uk/dont-stop-thinking-about-tomorrow.pdf |