America Dodges the Global Demographic Bullet

As the Trends editors frequently remind us, "demography is destiny." Today, falling birth rates have placed the developed world on a collision course with economic decline. On the other hand, India is set to enter an era of unprecedented affluence. Alone among the traditional economic powerhouses, the United States is positioned to succeed in this new era. We'll tell you why, and what this will mean to you.

More than two centuries ago, the English scholar Thomas Malthus did some calculatio.....