03-01 Japan
A two-week tour of Japan in 1987 helped me understand its people and its culture. It was in advance of an International Small Business Congress held in Nagoya.Part of tour was a two-hour visit on a weekend with three young women sharing a small apartment. They all spoke English, were highly educated, and held good…
03-02 Italy
A nation like Japan with a declining population. Not just more deaths than births but net negative immigration. Tough funding the pensions and health care of an aging society when you lack young taxpayers. The famous Italian culture is at risk. “What news on the Rialto?” How hilarious. This was a line that popped out…
03-03 Spain
Spain, like Italy, is facing major population declines looking into the future. This implies pressure on its economy to fund the pensions of an aging society, and cultural pressures integrating a growing immigrant population from Africa. We were asking directions from a young university student in Barcelona, and he made it clear to us that…
03-04 Bulgaria
It seems all the nations of Eastern Europe are facing major population declines. The most serious being Bulgaria. And even today this means a collapse of the countryside with empty building and the closing of the shops. A mobile grocery service calls three times a week. My grandmother was born in Iasi, the capital of…
03-05 China
China had a fertility rate of 2.9 children per woman in 1979, but today it is closer to 1.5. And this is despite government efforts t encourage child birth. The relative collapse of China’s population has huge economic, social and political implications. It was amusing to all of us on a tour of China in…
03-06 Russia
Another developed nation facing population decline. But here the issues are high mortality, a poor public health system and high levels of emigration. A great power sustained through exports of LNG. It was 1987 and the beginning of a two-week tour of the Soviet Union. The first thing we did after checking into our Moscow…
03-07 Iran
There are a number of Iranians living in the Toronto area. Getting to know them has been educational. One of the oldest civilizations in the world. Exploding in population at the time of their revolution in 1979, but a society today in decline. It is difficult to analyze Iran unless you get immersed in Iran…