Reply #25: I hadn't seen that, but there's a lot to think about!

[HamdenRice]

Overall, I think he's right. The two things I disagree about are that Reagan's supply side strategy worked, and the dire picture of an aging Japan. I'm always amazed when an economist can picture the youth of a society subsidizing the aged of that same society, but can picture the youth of the global economy subsidizing the aged of a particular society. The Japanese are accumulating financial assets from countries that have a less dire demographic outlook. If Spengler can imagine the Chinese supporting the old age through acquisition of financial assets, I don't see why he can't picture that the Japanese have done the same. I suppose it's because Japan's government is in debt while China's is not, and Japan's old age support is channeled more through the government.