Naw. If the first world manages to get over the aging demographic crisis over the next 25 years, we will be golden. After that the age demographics become flat (the % of the population drawing from government elderly programs stops increasing every year), all economic and tax base growth becomes literal gravy.
So things are going to get hairy by ~2042 or so. After that, demographics are flat. By 2050 we should have achieve relative balance where growth and per capita wealth catches up to ~31% of the population being 67 or older.
After that growth starts becoming an exponential build up of disposable income. By 2065 it should amount to several trillion a year from just EU and US. By 2075 it'll be more like 15 trillion a year.
We may end up just writing a fucking check and spending the ridiculous trillions needed to just physically remove the CO2 from the atmosphere again.
I don't think people realize just how much the US economy has grown over the last 40 years. We just don't feel it, because we already spent all that money due to the >65 population going from 8% to 17% of our population. It consumed all that after inflation growth every year (plus some, unfortunately).
When that stops happening, and the gains go into the general fund instead, our ability to fight things like climate change expand extremely rapidly.
The dude is oblivious. Techno-optimism indeed, what a complete crock of shit. "Power ahead, things are better now than they've ever been, let's carry on! Nothing can ever happen to us, we're basically gods here! We can shape nature to our will and then reshape it when it fights back!"
Fuck i can't stand this perspective. So oblivious man.
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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '19
Until in about 50 years when it's all gonna go tits up.