Declining birth rates throughout much of Western Europe and America, and in other developed nations like Japan, have alarmed social scientists. Concern is most acute in nations where a shrinking workforce will be expected to pay for the rising costs of a much larger retiring population. But on the opposite end of this spectrum, rapid population growth can also destabilize a developing nation’s economy, depending on how that growth occurs.

Straight Arrow News contributor Peter Zeihan observes that rising life expectancies, not births, are the root cause for much of the population growth in nations like China, and he warns that those nations might be headed for economic collapse without an influx of younger workers. But even for nations with healthy demographics and rising birth rates, Zeihan adds, a reliance on imported medical tools and technology will emerge as a key vulnerability in the years ahead.