Generations square off in a battle for the ages | The Japan Times

English: Elderly man at Shimonose Park Sasebo ...

English: Elderly man at Shimonose Park Sasebo Japan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: An osteoporotic elderly women in Japan.

English: An osteoporotic elderly women in Japan. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/165245940

This is a thoughtful article from the Japan Times. It’s worth a read. Check it out!

via Generations square off in a battle for the ages | The Japan Times.

Let me give you a flavor:

There are rich elderly and poor elderly, but the bond that unites them — age — may be stronger than any class tensions, just as youth bound rich and poor youngsters together when the world was so incredibly young half a century or so ago. Japan, as everyone knows, is growing older and older. So is the world, but not at Japan’s pace. Of the world’s roughly 440,000 centenarians, 58,820, as of September, were Japanese.

Personally, I am not convinced that other countries will necessarily witness similar battles between old and young. There are cultural issues at work here as well. I think that in most Western countries, on public transport, an elderly person would still give priority to a pregnant mother.

Thoughts?

The Fall of France – Paul Krugman – NYTimes.com – Best Blogs Series

Paris Opera full frontal architecture, May 2009

Paris Opera full frontal architecture, May 2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Gare du Nord train station is the busiest ...

The Gare du Nord train station is the busiest in Europe. #ens_id=628859 “Recherche”. LeMonde.fr . #ens_id=628859 . Retrieved 2011-09-15 . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: The palace of Luxembourg, in the Luxe...

English: The palace of Luxembourg, in the Luxembourg garden, Paris, at sunset. Suomi: Luxembourgin palatsi Luxembourgin puistossa Pariisissa auringon laskun aikaan. Français : Le palais du Luxembourg, dans le jardin du Luxembourg, à Paris, au coucher du soleil. Русский: Люксембургский дворец в Люксембургском саду, Париж, на заходе солнца. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Université Sorbonne de Paris vu depuis la plac...

Université Sorbonne de Paris vu depuis la place de la Sorbonne (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is a MUST-READ article from Nobel Prize winning, liberal economist, Paul Krugman, in the NYT. Check it out!

via The Fall of France – NYTimes.com.

Personally, I prefer Krugman when he focuses on economics, rather than venturing opinion on politics – his politics are colored by his liberal views. But his article on France’s economic performanceyesterday was excellent.

However, I must say that I agree that President Hollande has been a failure. Hollande has completely failed to live up to his anti-austerity rhetoric.

In my mind, we are witnessing German hegemony over Europe, via fiscal constraints. A similar point has been made by leading Oxford economist, Simon Wren-Lewis, using different language.

As I looked at the news this morning, every major newspaper and economic commentator seems to be again focusing on the Euro, vying for headline space. I am sure that speculators are sitting in the wings, looking to short-sell weak prey. Meanwhile, yesterday we learned that perhaps Germany might dilute austerity medicine in exchange for reform.

One last point, the new French Finance Minister is a thirty-seven year old former investment banker, so I fear he will understand the markets but alas perhaps not the people?

Thoughts?