Leon J. Podles :: DIALOGUE

The recession has compounded Europe’s demographic problems. The riots in Greece are just the beginning. The French hate to work, and would probably have a revolution rather than work until 65. Not that a revolution would do any good, but that never seems to have stopped the French. 
The New York Times reports: 

With low growth, low [...]

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Focus (April 11, 2009) in “Fructbarer Glaube” (not on-line yet) reports on the birthrate in Switzerland in 2000.
Children per woman according to religious membership
2.79 — Hindu
2.44 — Moslem
2.06 — Jewish
1.62 — Eastern Orthodox
1.42 — Buddhist
1.41 — Roman Catholic
1.35 — Protestant
1.24 — Jehovah’s Witnesses
1.11 — No religious association

The Worldwide Value Survey (1986-2004) correlated the number of [...]

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Misleading statistics indicated that Germany’s birth rate was rising because of new, generous government polices. But the statistics were misleading. Despite lavish benefits, the German birth rate continues to drop. Der Spiegel reports

On Tuesday, though, the German Federal Statistical Office released preliminary figures for all of 2008, and the news is not pretty. Rather than [...]

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European leaders do not seem to care for Obama’s policies any more than they cared for Bush’s, at least when it comes to economic policy.

Obama wants to borrow and spend to stimulate the economy; Europeans are very reluctant to do so. The demographic situations of the two continents are different

Kenneth Rogoff, the former chief economist [...]

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Birthrates continue to fall all over the world; in Europe they are well below the replacement level. There has been so much population bomb propaganda over the past generation that many people regard this as a good development. Yglesias (tip to Ross Douthat) writes

Less clear to me is why so many people seem concerned by [...]

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The headline of the NYT article says it all: Its Population Falling, Russia Beckons Its Children Home.
The United Nations predicts that the country will fall to 116 million people by 2050, from 141 million now, an 18 percent decline, largely because of a low birthrate and poor health habits.
Abortion and contraception are entrenched in [...]

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Allan Carlson has emphasized that a government can’t buy a higher birthrate. Generous family allowances may encourage couples to have their children earlier in life, but the ultimate birthrate is not affected.

This seems to have happened in Germany. The German government is concerned about the abysmal birthrate in Germany and increased family allowances. Der Spiegel [...]

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