Falling birthrate in the West

NYT The story discusses Germany's dearth of children. But what of the question of new balance of power which would seem to occur with developing nations populations outnumbering the developed nations by huge numbers. Will this saturate out and be a non-issue or will Western nations be forced to open their doors to more immigration?

More US women out of marriage than in it

Link Census results show this shift. With some income gains, women are enjoying independence.

Americans Fatter, Taller, and Thirstier

Link Interesting data from the census. Americans average 8.5 hours daily in the following activities: watching television, using computers, listening to the radio, going to the movies or reading. Assuming the computer part is leisure, this is a lot of leisure time. I would venture that reading time has gone down. (?) Amazing what modern technology has done. 75% of college freshman have a primary personal goal of being financially very well off.

300m Americans and growing

Link Economist story on American population hilights the reason for its growth and relatively high birth rate (faith / hope for the future, less patriarchy, and spacious houses and land) compared to other developed countries. It's also stunning to hear about brand-new 3-bedroom houses going for $130k which are being built in Houston.

-- updated 10/28

A Time magazine article shows that Hispanics are having the most kids at 2.8 per family while other races are significantly lower at 1.9 per family or less. Now I wonder about the Economist story.

Dwindling pops: Japan, Russia and Italy

The article indicates it's financial reasons driving down birth rate. Also it is socially acceptable (actually becoming the norm) not to have children. I think it's good for the planet, but still potentially destabilizing. These countries will be forced to allow immigration in order to sustain their economies.

Population collapse predicted in Russia

It seems the end of the cold war has left Russia in a pretty bad state. Who knew that male life expectancy in Russia is at 59 years? Seems to be in worse shape than Japan. NYTimes article

-- updated 9/7

Economist article on the same topic.