See my post on today’s Globe and Mail Economy Lab

See my post from today’s Globe and Mail Economy Lab here

See my post form the Globe and Mail’s Economy Lab here

The OECD has jus trellised a report on the ‘World in 2060.  See my take in today’s Globe and Mail Economy Lab here

See my blog at the Globe and Mail’s Economy Lab

Lots of people moved in to U.S. cities over the past decade – but what happens next? See my post on Seeking Alpha for more.

Here’s a quick quiz – which would you rather do: 1) Live in poverty or 2) Live with your spouse?  A lot of baby boomers seem to be choosing (1), although they may not actually know it.  Trouble is, boomers are ending their marriages in droves, and splitting up what are really very inadequate retirement assets.  So just when it seemed that the baby boomers could not make the dream of retirement even more elusive, they have apparently found a way to do so. Read more →

Here’s an interesting item from on a possible softening of China’s one-child policy.  Faster population in China will not necessarily be the salvation of that economy, and faster economic growth from China will not necessarily be the salvation of the world economy – but it would at least be a start. Read more →

Last time, I talked about who the middle-young ratio (ratio of 40somethings to 20somethings in the population) correlated with financial market activity in the U.S. and Canada. A population with a lot of 40somethings poured money into the stock markets through the 1990s, then a slightly older one held back a little on equities. The demographics certainly are not the whole story behind why the markets dipped over the past few years, but they were most certainly a contributing factor. Read more →

Aging population – market time bomb?

Okay, that’s a sensationalistic way to put it, but that’s certainly one of the fears people have about an the shifting demographics in North America. Last time around I looked at how portfolio size tends to trend lower as people go past 65. All things being equal, the older the population gets, the more money that is going to be pulled out of the market. Question is, at what point does the ‘market time bomb’ thing go from sensationalism to reality – or does it? Read more →