Leonard Schoppa: “Japan’s Declining Population: Clearly a Problem, But What’s the Solution?” -- 02/23/12

Leonard Schoppa: “Japan’s Declining Population: Clearly a Problem, But What’s the Solution?” -- 02/23/12
  • USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters Arts and Sciences
Thursday, February 23, 2012
12:30 PM PST
1 Hour 20 Minutes 33 Seconds
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Description

rganized by Scott Wilbur, Politics and International Relations Phd candidate, USC
Abstract: Japan’s population is on track to shrink by over 30 million between 2000 and 2050, even as the number of residents over 65 continues to grow. This “aging society – declining fertility” problem has been a national obsession for at least two decades, prompting a variety of policy responses, but none of them has succeeded in budging a trajectory that appears headed for fiscal disaster. In this lecture, I review the policy responses, examining why efforts to boost the number of babies, bring more women into the workforce, reduce the costs of caring for the old, and (tentative) proposals to increase immigration have all failed to bear fruit.
Discussant: Saori Katada, Associate Professor of International Relations, USC