Perspectives on Aging

I have spent a good part of this year and last researching challenges and opportunities in healthcare. There are many challenges and even more opportunities. As I look at the debate unraveling the thorniest issues of our times I decided to step back a little bit. What have we learned in the past? Are we rehashing old issues? Has anything changed materially?

The bottomline is that people want to live longer. The good thing is we are living longer. But what about the quality of life? Longevity can be problematic. Actually in various parts of the world this is already causing a lot of problems. Today Europe has a major crisis on its hand when it comes to an aging population. Supporting the old requires a nation state to have a thriving young population. In Asia, we are at the cusp of seeing the same problem manifest in China. The one child policy makes it worse.

The economics underlying aging is quite interesting. More on that topic later. The following is an interview from one of my favorite interviewers and one of my favorite interviewees on this topic, enjoy: