DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Here's why Americans having fewer kids won't doom the economy
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

America's falling population isn't necessarily bad for the economy, Fisher Investments said. The US birth rate just fell to its lowest level in over 40 years, according to provisional CDC data. AdvertisementAmericans aren't having nearly as many kids as they used to, but that won't be the blow to the US economy that many have feared, according to Fisher Investments. Related storiesBut fewer babies being born isn't necessarily a bad thing for the economy, the firm said. "Yes, falling birth rates could have negative long-run ramifications if a true reduction in human capital and other factors don't offset this.

Persons: —, Goldman Sachs, Fisher, Ken Fisher Organizations: Fisher Investments, Service, Centers for Disease, Bank

☆ Opinion | Is the Internet the Enemy of Progress?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

But it’s 29 years old, written when the true internet era was still just a gleam in Al Gore’s eye. You could further argue that the passage predicted the Great Stagnation that Tyler Cowen identified in 2011, the productivity slowdown and disappointing economic growth that followed the initial 1990s-era internet boom. Writing for Quillette, he argues that globalization and homogenization have reduced cultural competition in roughly the way that the “Lost World” passage describes. It’s not just that we’re forgoing opportunities to improve our macro cultures. Shouldn’t we expect that macro cultures, when selection is weak, will drift into dysfunction just as firm cultures do?

Persons: Marc Andreessen, Michael Crichton’s, Crichton’s, Ian Malcolm, ” Malcolm, Al, John, Tyler Cowen, Malcolm, Crichton, Robin Hanson, It’s, Hanson, ” Organizations: Benetton, Western, George Mason University Locations: Bangkok, Tokyo, London, Al Gore’s, John Hammond’s, Davos, South Korea

400,000 Men at each age 200,000 Age: 15 25 35 45 55 65 75 85 95Can Ukraine Find New Soldiers Without Decimating a Whole Generation? Healthy men under age 30, the backbone of most militaries, are part of the smallest generation in Ukraine’s modern history. Mr. Zelensky’s decision to draft men starting at age 25 risks further diminishing this small generation of Ukrainians. But the lower draft age risks shrinking a small generation even more. And in occupied areas of the country Russia is conscripting Ukrainian men to fight against Ukraine, starting at age 18.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, birthrates, thein, —, Oleksandr Gladun, it’s, ”, Serhiy Hrabsky, Gladun, “ Organizations: Boys, United Nations, Ptukha, Social Studies, European Union, Eurostat, Ukraine Locations: Ukraine, United States, Soviet Union, Russia, Europe

☆ What Happened When This Italian Province Invested in Babies
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Jason Horowitz | Gaia Pianigiani | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a municipal building in the heart of the alpine city of Bolzano, Stefano Baldo clocked out of work early for his breastfeeding break. “It’s clear I don’t breastfeed,” Mr. Baldo, a 38-year-old transportation administrator, said in his office decorated with pictures of his wife and six children. But with his wife home with a newborn, one of the parents was entitled by law to take the time, and he needed to pick up the kids. But the Alto Adige-South Tyrol area and its capital, Bolzano, more than any other part of the country, bucked the trend and emerged as a parallel procreation universe for Italy, with its birthrate holding steady over decades. The reason, experts say, is that the provincial government has over time developed a thick network of family-friendly benefits, going far beyond the one-off bonuses for babies that the national government offers.

Persons: Stefano Baldo, Mr, Baldo, “, Giorgia Meloni, Pope Francis Locations: Bolzano, Italy, Europe, South Tyrol

☆ Japan is producing so few babies that a leading diaper maker is pivoting to adults
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The shift in business strategy is due to Japan's declining birth rate and aging population. AdvertisementA Japanese diaper maker announced that it will stop producing diapers for babies and will, instead, focus on catering to the country's aging population with adult nappies. Related storiesConcerns over the implications of a declining birth rate have led to Japanese officials sounding the alarm. AdvertisementLow birth rates and an aging population risk dramatically shrinking Japan's population, which is estimated to fall by about 30% to 87 million by 2070, The Guardian reported. Oji Holdings' pivot due to shifting demographics mirrors a similar move made by Unicharm, Japan's biggest diaper maker, over a decade ago.

Persons: —, Yoshimasa Hayashi, Fumio Kishida, It's, Unicharm Organizations: Service, Holdings, BBC News, Health, Welfare Ministry, United Nations Population Division, Guardian, Bloomberg Locations: Japan

☆ Opinion | Birthrates Are Plummeting Worldwide. Why?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For a long time, the story about the world’s population was that it was growing too quickly. Fertility rates have declined dramatically, from about five children per woman 60 years ago to just over two today. About two-thirds of us now live in a country or area where fertility rates are below replacement level. Why, as societies get richer, do their fertility rates plummet? For a long time, a big, boisterous family has been associated with a joyful, fulfilled life.

Persons: “, Ezra Klein Organizations: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Locations: Silicon Valley

☆ 2 Schools Clash as One Shrinks and the Other Gains Migrant Students
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Troy Closson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A bitter clash over space has emerged in recent weeks at a beloved New York City school building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side that two programs have shared for the past decade. One of the building’s occupants, Public School 145, has added more than 120 new students as a result of an influx of newcomers. The conflict highlights broader fault lines in New York and other large U.S. cities. The country’s public schools have lost more than 1.2 million students since the pandemic began and are facing major budget declines as a result. By 2031, enrollment could plunge by another 2.5 million nationwide, in large part because of declining birthrates.

Organizations: New York, Public, of Education, West Prep Academy Locations: New York City, New York, U.S

☆ China is debating if it's finally time to let people marry at 18 as it grapples with a dwindling population
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A top advisor suggested that China lower its marriage age to 18, and people aren't happy with him. It's a further sign that China's population woes can't be solved through family policy alone. His proposal, however, went viral and was quickly slammed online, a further sign that China's population woes are rooted beyond just family policies. "I thought at least those who have experienced childbirth should propose these reproduction suggestions," said one top comment with 7,500 likes on Weibo, China's version of X. China's population decreased by around 2 million people in 2023, while its birth rates have declined to their lowest levels since 1949, per government statistics.

Persons: Gan Huatian, It's, —, Gan, Mao Zedong's Organizations: Service, National Committee of, Political Consultative, National People's Congress, West China Hospital, Business Locations: China, Beijing, Sichuan, Weibo

☆ Economic Dividend of Immigration Faces Legal and Logistical Hurdles
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Lydia Depillis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The U.S. economic recovery from the pandemic has been stronger and more durable than many experts had expected, and a rebound in immigration is a big reason. A resumption in visa processing in 2021 and 2022 jump-started employment, allowing foreign-born workers to fill some holes in the labor force that persisted across industries and locations after the pandemic shutdowns. Immigrants also address a longer-term need: replenishing the work force, a key to meeting labor demands as birthrates decline and older people retire. International instability, economic crises, war and natural disasters have brought a new surge of arrivals who could help close the still-elevated gap between labor demand and job candidates. But that potential economic dividend must contend with the incendiary politics, logistical hurdles and administrative backlogs that the surge has created.

Organizations: Office

☆ China's crashing birthrate will leave millions of teachers jobless in the coming years
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

China's birthrate has plunged, with the number of newborns in 2023 falling by 500,000, to about 9 million. AdvertisementDecades of China's one-child policy have created a demographic nightmare for the world's second-largest economy, and millions of school teachers could soon be left without a job as birthrates tumble. If those classes don't scale back, China could see a surplus of 1.5 million primary school teachers and 370,000 middle school teachers by 2035, according to a Tuesday report from the South China Morning Post. Last year marked the second consecutive year that China's population shrank, according to the country's National Bureau of Statistics. Total primary school students, too, declined in 2022 for the first time in a decade.

Persons: China's birthrate, —, it's Organizations: Service, South China Morning, country's National Bureau of Statistics, Education, China National Academy of Educational Sciences, Terry Group, Terry, UN Locations: China, Beijing, Hangzhou

☆ Opinion | The Varieties of Anti-Natalism — and the Roots of a Demographic Crisis
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

This week, The Financial Times featured an interview with the Finnish demographer Anna Rotkirch, discussing one of the more striking subplots in the widening drama of demographic decline: The sudden collapse of what had heretofore been seen as a pronatalist success story in the social democracies of northern Europe. That hope seems to be dissolving. As Darel Paul wrote in an essay for Compact magazine last week, Europe has suffered a “stunning fertility collapse” in the last decade, much of it concentrated in countries where the feminist egalitarian model was strongest. Finland is one of them: As The Financial Times notes, “despite all the support offered to parents,” the country’s birthrate “has fallen nearly a third since 2010,” and its birthrate is now barely above the lows of Italy. And I still think that: I’m very happy, for instance, that the House just passed a child tax credit expansion, because in an age of declining birthrates, every little bit helps.

Persons: Anna Rotkirch, Darel Paul, “, I’ve Organizations: Financial Times, Nordic Locations: Finnish, Europe, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Italy, South Korea, Scandinavia, America

lydia polgreenSure, but a few things — one thing that was elided in a lot of the discourse about men falling behind really, really, really under emphasized or just ignored the racial component of it. I just don’t — I don’t —ross douthatYeah, there were like five. That’s a really, really, really big shift. Are women going to pay a disproportionate price for childbearing in terms of their economic potential? But I think — Ross wrote a column about just how freaking weird the bizarre conspiracy theories about Taylor and Travis are.

Persons: ross douthat, polgreen, polgreen Oh, — ross douthat, Carlos Lozada, lydia polgreen I’m, Carlos Lazada, ross, michelle cottle, Lozada, lydia polgreen, Jimmy Carter, — ross, Jimmy Carter lusted, michelle cottle Oh, Jimmy, I’m Michelle Cottle, ross douthat I’m Ross Douthat, Lydia Polgreen, lydia polgreen Hoo, Carlos, Gen, topsy turvy, Ronald Reagan, Ross, Bill Clinton, Michelle, — michelle cottle, there’s, John Burn, Murdoch, Lydia, it’s, —, Taylor Swift, I’m, It’s, Roe, Let’s, Let’s —, That’s, I’ve, Andrew Tates, who’s, you’re, We’re, Don’t, we’ve, ” I’m, Trump, — Trump, michelle cottle It’s, Brett Kavanaugh, they’re, let’s, don’t, he’s, ross douthat It’s, michelle cottle Let’s, michelle cottle That’s, couldn’t, Jesus, that’s, michelle cottle We’ve, Taylor, — michelle cottle Travis Kelce, lydia polgreen Travis, — Ross, Travis, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Rush Limbaugh’s feminazis, lydia polgreen Feminazis, michelle cottle There’s, michelle cottle You’re, michelle cottle I’ll, lydia polgreen —, we’re, — michelle cottle Partypalooza, sleepovers, — michelle cottle Ah, lydia polgreen Congrats Organizations: New York, Goldwater Republicans, Bill Clinton Democrats, Democrat, Republicans, Confederation, YouTube, Trump, Public Religion Research Institute, South Korea —, Pinterest Locations: American, US, Germany, United Kingdom, South Korea, Poland, Mars, United States, America, France, Korea, Northeast Asia, Africa, Mozambique, Saharan Africa, Europe, New York City, Manhattan

☆ Opinion | Think the Baby Bust Was Bad Before? Just Look at It Now.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The baby bust that we all know about has gotten worse in a way that isn’t yet widely understood. And they have continued to fall since, according to a report to clients by James Pomeroy, a global economist for HSBC, the London-based bank. It’s titled, “The Baby Bust Intensifies: How Bad Could It Get?” (Sorry, no link.) Pomeroy didn’t wait for the official data collectors such as the United Nations to assemble data trickling in from national statistical agencies. In most of the countries for which Pomeroy managed to get data, the total number of births continued to fall steeply in 2023.

Persons: James Pomeroy, Pomeroy didn’t, ” Pomeroy, Pomeroy Organizations: HSBC, United Nations Locations: London, United States, Czech Republic, Ireland, Poland

☆ Opinion | Is South Korea Disappearing?
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For some time now, South Korea has been a striking case study in the depopulation problem that hangs over the developed world. Almost all rich countries have seen their birthrates settle below replacement level, but usually that means somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.5 children per woman. For instance in 2021 the United States stood at 1.7, France at 1.8, Italy at 1.3 and Canada at 1.4. It’s worth unpacking what that means. Run the experiment through a second generational turnover, and your original 200-person population falls below 25.

Persons: you’re, Stephen King’s Locations: South Korea, United States, France, Italy, Canada, Europe, America

☆ Putin is urging women to have as many as 8 children after so many Russians died in his war with Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

President Vladimir Putin is urging Russians to have more children. Russian birthrates are falling amid war in Ukraine and a deepening economic crisis. AdvertisementRussian President Vladimir Putin is urging women to have as many as eight children after so many Russians are dying in his war with Ukraine, worsening the country's spiraling population crisis. "Many of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers, had seven, eight, or even more children," said Putin. The war in Ukraine has led an estimated 900,000 people to flee the country.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, —, Le Monde, Alexei Raksha Organizations: Service, Russian People's Council, UK's Ministry of Defence, Ukraine, AFP, RFE Locations: Ukraine, Moscow, Russia, Meduza, Rosstat

At Burlington Bagel Bakery, a sign in the window advertises wages starting at $25 an hour. Cabot Creamery is bringing workers from out of state to package its signature blocks of Cheddar cheese. More than a fifth of Vermonters are 65 or older, and more than 35 percent are over 54, the age at which Americans typically begin to exit the work force. Vermont offers an early look at where the rest of the country could be headed. The baby boom population is aging out of the work force, and subsequent generations aren’t large enough to fully replace it.

Organizations: Champlain, Burlington Bagel, Central Vermont Medical Center Locations: Burlington, Cabot, Vermont

☆ Opinion | Two Ways of Looking at the West’s Population Dilemma
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +11 min

That means the dilemma of the 21st century isn’t how Earth will feed an ever-growing population, but how the world will deal with a potential mass rebalancing of population via migration, an altered wealth-and-people equilibrium, in a world where technology is making the movement of peoples easier than ever. Clearly, the richest countries will be able to replenish their populations with immigration across the 21st century — if they choose. (A 25 percent ratio means there are four workers for every retiree; a 50 percent ratio, just two.) I don’t think you need to be especially pessimistic to regard that kind of transformation as incompatible with stable democratic governance. It’s among the reasons you already have the rightward shift in European politics and why immigration restriction will be a winning issue for the foreseeable future in many European countries.

Persons: Declan Walsh, Africa’s “, Hannah Reyes Morales, Walsh, it’s, Paul Morland, Philip Pilkington, —, hasn’t, don’t, ’, Morland, Pilkington, Biden, Trump, “, Gilbert Meilaender, Blake Smith, Yuan Yi Zhu, Valerie Stivers, Tim Miller, John Gallagher, — Sarah Neville Organizations: Financial Times Locations: Israel, Gaza, Europe, Africa, East Asia, Latin America, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, Germany, Sweden, Nigeria, Morocco, Americas, America, United States, Palestine, Denmark, Britain, South Korea, Japan, Asia, Poland, ”, London, North America

☆ The World Is Becoming More African
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Declan Walsh | Hannah Reyes Morales | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +37 min

Old World Young Africa As the world grays, Africa blooms with youth. The World Is Becoming More African Part one of a series on how the youth boom is changing the continent, and beyond. But while a handful of African countries are poised to ride the demographic wave, others risk being swamped by it. In the West, racists and right-wing nationalists stoke fears of African population growth to justify hatred, or even violence. The age gap between geriatric leaders and restless youth is “a major source of tension” in many African countries, said Simon Mulongo, a former African Union diplomat from Uganda.

Persons: Lauren Leatherby, ”, Jean, Patrick Niambé, Hilton, Edward Paice, “, Keziah Keya, Keya, Paul R, Ehrlich, stoke, Lauren Leatherby “, Carlos Lopes, Burna, Weeks, “ It’s, Laolu Senbanjo, Tems, Toulaye Sy, Pritzker, Abdulrazak Gurnah, “ Africa’s, ” Long, exotica, Mulendema, Hannah O’Leary, “ We’re, Sipho Dlamini, Dlamini, Moawad, Optimists, Mo Ibrahim, Aubrey Hruby, birthrates, India’s, China’s, Akinwumi Adesina, States —, William Ruto, Paul Biya of, Biya, Wole Soyinka, Paul Kagame of, Nourdine, Nigeriens, Awade, Ali Bongo Ondimba, Simon Mulongo, Nuha Abdelgadir, Abdelgadir, gesturing, “ We’ve, ” Weeks, Abdelgadir’s, Modu Ali, Young, Saidu, Habiba Mohammed, Ms, Ha, Joon Chang, Nobody, Chang, Ibrahim, Touré Organizations: Young, United Nations, Southern, Northern, Western Asia Northern, United, Ivory Coast, African Union, Group, European Union ., Suisse, Africa Research Institute, Nigeria Mozambique Kenya “, Russia Canada Germany United, Russia Canada Germany United States Japan China Iran Egypt India Mexico Nigeria Ethiopia Ethiopia Dem, Russia Germany, China Egypt India Nigeria D.R.C, Russia Canada Germany United States Japan China Iran Egypt India Mexico Nigeria Ethiopia Dem, Bank, Nations, International, Bryn Mawr College, Angola, Angola Ivory Coast, Angola Ivory Coast Cameroon Dem, Africa Middle Africa Southern, Economic Commission, New, Citi, Spotify, Cannes Film, Burkina Faso, UNESCO, Disney, Amazon Prime, Netflix, “, Apple, Cape Town, Microsoft, Google, Infrastructure, McKinsey & Company, Pew Research Center, African Development Bank, Greek Coast Guard, Saudi, Africa Climate, Young Voters, Freedom House, University of Denver, United Arab, Japan Cuba Vatican City, Netherlands South Korea Belgium U.A.E, Islamic, Global, Center for Girls Education, School of Oriental, Studies Locations: grays, Africa, India, China, United States, Southern Asia, Asia, America, Caribbean, Northern America, Western Asia, Western Asia Northern America, Europe, London, New York, West Africa, Ivory, Abidjan, Russia, Turkey, Gulf, Nairobi, Nigeria Mozambique Kenya, Italy, Japan, Russia Canada Germany United States Japan China Iran Egypt India Mexico Nigeria Ethiopia Ethiopia, Congo Indonesia Brazil Australia South Africa Argentina, Russia Germany U.S, China Egypt India Nigeria, Brazil South Africa Australia, Russia Canada Germany United States Japan China Iran Egypt India Mexico Nigeria, Nigeria, Africa’s, Young, South Africa, Somalia, Mozambique, Mali, Gabon, Niger, Mozambique Nigeria Kenya, Kenya, Pennsylvania, Angola Ivory, Angola Ivory Coast Cameroon, Congo Algeria Egypt, Ghana Kenya Madagascar Mozambique Niger Nigeria, Tanzania Uganda South Africa, Northern Africa Eastern Africa, Africa Middle Africa, Africa Middle Africa Southern Africa, Guinea, Bissau, African, Qatar, Nigerian, Brooklyn, Target, French, Senegalese, Paris, Milan, Venice, Burkina, Tanzania, Saharan Africa, Nigeria Kenya Senegal In Lagos, Dakar, Zambia, South Korea, Sotheby’s, Lagos, Zimbabwe, Watford, Cape, Mombasa, Zanzibar, Cairo, Morocco, East Africa, Nigeria Mozambique Morocco, Sudanese, North Africa, East Asia, Thailand, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, States, Namibia, Kenyan, Paul Biya of Cameroon, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, United Arab Emirates, United States France Turkey, Germany, Russia India, Brazil, Japan Cuba, Japan Cuba Vatican City Spain Italy Saudi Arabia Qatar, Netherlands South Korea Belgium, Iran Canada, Niger’s, Niamey, Senegal Kenya Kenya, X’s, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Senegal, Uganda, Khartoum, Sudan, Ethiopia, Al Qaeda, Islamic State, Chad, Burkina Faso, Nigeria Nigeria Morocco, hijabs, Zaria, American, Korea, South, England

Last year's U.S. Supreme Court decision rescinding a five-decade-old right to abortion has reshaped American abortion policy, shifting power to states. Sales of abortion pills in 2022 were up 60%, according to Nikolay Bespalov, development director of the RNC Pharma analytical company. A recent Health Ministry decree restricted circulation of abortion pills, used to terminate pregnancies in the first trimester. Regional authorities have tried to get private clinics to stop offering abortions, with varying success. In Tatarstan, about a third of all private clinics no longer provide them, officials said.

Persons: heartened Dasha, Vladimir Putin, Yakovleva, ”, Michele Rivkin, rescinding, Putin, Mikhail Murashko, Nikolay Bespalov, Yekaterina Hivrich, Irina Fainman, Fainman, Pyotr Tolstoy, Irina Volynets, Lina Zharin, ” Natalya Moskvitina, Moskvitina, Olga Mindolina, Mindolina, Anastasia, “, Lyubov Organizations: Associated Press, Nationwide, Health Ministry, University of North, Supreme, Russian Orthodox Church, Health, AP, Authorities, Lahta Clinic, Conservative, Women Locations: TALLINN, Estonia, Kaliningrad, Russia, U.S, University of North Carolina, Last, Soviet Union, ” State, Ukraine, St . Petersburg, Karelia, Tatarstan, mulling, Chelyabinsk, Mordovia, Voronezh

NEW YORK (AP) — Tens of millions of older Americans will see a modest increase in benefits this January when a new cost-of-living adjustment is added to Social Security payments. Here's what to keep in mind:Political Cartoons View All 1209 ImagesHOW DOES SOCIAL SECURITY WORK? The Social Security program pays roughly $1.4 trillion in benefits to more than 71 million people each year, including low-income individuals with disabilities. The short answer is that taxes fund Social Security. While the money is used to pay people currently receiving benefits, any unused money goes to the Social Security trust fund.

Persons: Kathleen Romig, ”, Mark Hamrick, Hamrick, Charles Schwab Organizations: Social, Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer, Social Security, Budget, Bureau of Labor Statistics ’, “, Boomers, Associated Press, Charles, Charles Schwab Foundation, Inc, AP

☆ What Happens When Global Human Population Peaks? - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Dean Spears | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +13 min

Over the past 100 years, the global population quadrupled, from two billion to eight billion. Some will inexcusably claim that restricting reproductive choice is a way to curb long-run population decline. If an inclusive, compassionate response to population decline emerges someday, it need not be in conflict with those values. It’s in no one’s hands to change global population trajectories alone. Six decades from now is when the U.N. projects the size of the world population will peak.

Persons: demographers, Wittgenstein, Spears, Grandma, humanity’s, They’ve, birthrates, everyone’s, It’s, it’s Organizations: Human, The Institute for Health Metrics, University of Washington, University of Texas, Population Research, New York Times, White, won’t Locations: Vienna, Austin, United States, Europe, East Asia, Latin America, Guinea, Africa, China, Brazil, India, birthrates, Chile, Thailand, Canada, Germany, Japan, Saharan Africa, Israel

☆ World’s Largest ‘Baby Exporter’ Confronts Its Painful Past
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | More About Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mia Lee Sorensen’s Danish parents used to tell her that her birth family in South Korea had put her up for adoption. But when Ms. Sorensen found her birth parents in South Korea last year, they could not believe she was alive. South Korea has the world’s largest diaspora of intercountry adoptees, with more foreign adoptions overall than any other nation. Those adoptions have continued today, even as the country suffers one of the world’s lowest birthrates. In 2021, the top intercountry adoption hubs were Colombia, India, Ukraine and South Korea.

Persons: Mia Lee Sorensen’s, Sorensen Locations: South Korea, Korea, intercountry, Korean, United States, Europe, Colombia, India, Ukraine, China

☆ Opinion | There’s Still Overwhelming Cultural Pressure to Get Married and Have Kids
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( Jessica Grose | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Personally, I don’t care whether candidates for higher office are married — I don’t think it has anything to do with their ability to lead. (Even Donald Trump, with his divorces and reputation as a womanizer, could be photographed with his beautiful current wife and brood of kids.) And on the other: People Without Kids (PWOKS: self-absorbed, entitled, attention whores, grumpy about life’s inconveniences even though their life is easy). I read this piece on two levels, the cultural and the personal. As for the cultural, I think when people get into their 30s and 40s and aren’t married and don’t have kids, they’re often judged in the “Departed” style.

Persons: Martin Scorsese, he’s, ”, “, Tim Scott, —, won’t, Donald Trump, Allison P, Davis, aren’t, don’t, they’re, it’s Organizations: Washington Post, Republican, White House Locations: United States

☆ Four takeaways from Walter Isaacson’s biography of Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Paul Glader | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —“You’ll never be successful,” Errol Musk in 1989 told his 17-year-old son Elon, who was then preparing to fly from South Africa to Canada to find relatives and a college education. That’s one of the scenes Walter Isaacson paints in his 670-page biography of Elon Musk, who is now the richest person who ever lived. In a 2022 email sent to Elon Musk on Father’s Day, Errol Musk said he was freezing and lacking electricity, asking his son for money. Isaacson’s book revealed Musk had a third child (Techno Mechanicus) with the musician Grimes in 2022, and Musk confirmed the revelation Sunday. “Stop falling for weird s—.”Are robocars, an AI company and a robot called Optimus on tap?

Persons: “ You’ll, Errol Musk, Elon, Walter Isaacson, Elon Musk, Isaacson, Musk, ” Musk, Errol, ” Elon Musk, ”, Covid, Anthony Fauci, Fauci, Grimes, “, ” Isaacson, Simon, Schuster Zilis, Zilis, Jenna, Musk’s, “ I’ve, Jared Birchall, Alex Spiro, Kimbal, Optimus, Sam Altman, Altman, Larry Page Organizations: CNN, Blacks, Defamation League, Elon, Twitter, Google, Microsoft, Tesla Locations: South Africa, Canada, United States, Texas

☆ Elon Musk Wants to Save Humanity. The Only Problem: People.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( Jennifer Szalai | More About Jennifer Szalai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Isaacson describes Musk stalking the factory floor of Tesla, his electric car company, issuing orders on the fly. “If I don’t make decisions,” Musk explained, “we die.”By “we,” Musk presumably meant Tesla in that instance. But Musk likes to speak of his business interests in superhero terms, so it’s sometimes hard to be sure. At one point, Isaacson asks why Musk is so offended by anything he deems politically correct, and Musk, as usual, has to dial it up to 11. Isaacson has ably conveyed that Musk doesn’t truly like pushback.

Persons: Walter Isaacson, Elon Musk, ” Walter Isaacson’s, —, ”, ” Isaacson, Musk, Isaacson, Tesla, ” Musk, Leonardo da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Grimes Organizations: ELON, SpaceX Locations: South Africa

Search resuls for: "birthrates"

25 mentions found