THE FUTURE OF MONEY Bernard A. Lietaer - library.uniteddiversity ...

seven is now over 65 years of age. Compare that with only one in 11
people back in 1960. Within two decades, one out of every five people
will reach that canonical age; and by 2030 almost one out of every
four! (Figure 1.2)
This unprecedented 'Age Wave' will transform the economics and
politics of the world. One expert's opinion is that 'Global ageing will
become not just the transcendent economic issue of the 21st century,
but the transcendent political issue as well. It will dominate and
haunt the public- policy agendas of the developed countries and
force renegotiations of their social contracts.' There are no historical
precedents for handling the issues this Age Wave is raising around
the world.
This global greying trend does offer a few positive effects. For
instance, you are more likely than anybody in previous generations
to join this unprecedented population of the elderly. One could even
hope that, with such a high percentage of mature people, the
incoming Knowledge Society might evolve into an era that deserves
to be called a Wisdom Age. Time will tell.
More sobering issues, however, will need to be addressed during
the current transition period. For example, unfunded pension
liabilities are a serious problem. These are benefits already earned by
today's workers, but for which no reserves exist because the funds
have been paid out as benefits to the currently retired population.
These unfunded liabilities have now accumulated to $35 trillion in
the OECD countries alone" (this is more than four years of the entire
Gross National Product of the US economy). Adding in healthcare to
the cost would more than double that figure. And even these account
the future growth in the Staggering numbers do not take into account
number of the elderly reflected in Figure 1.2.