JAMES N. writes:

The teaser for a New York Times story on demographic crisis in Germany reads:

As German towns work to hide the emptiness, demographers say a similar fate awaits other European countries, with scary implications for the economy.

As Europe dies, as the 3500 year epoch of our people comes to an end, the New York Times worries that it will be bad for the economy.

— Comments —

James P. writes:

Don’t forget the story has two other inevitable themes:

1. Germany “will have to attract immigrants and make them feel welcome enough to make a life here”. Of course, since all the other European countries have diminishing, aging populations, “I think the answer is that we need to look outside Europe” — because how could you possibly preserve Germany without bringing countless millions of non-Europeans to Germany?

And,

2. Germany will have to spend more money on working mothers! They spend $265 billion a year, but that’s not enough! More, I tell you, more “day care and after school programs” are needed! Such programs have never increased fertility anywhere they have been tried, but somehow, if only we spend more money, at last we will succeed…

Laura writes:

Declining fertility in modern times parallels the increasing institutionalization of children in schools and day care. The idea that people are motivated to have more children if their children are raised by someone else flies in the face of the evidence.  Human beings appear to lose interest in having children when they simply hand them over to others. I’m not saying that that’s the only factor or the main factor in the low birthrate, but it’s a major factor.

Eric writes:

Here’s a blatant lie:

“If you look closely at the numbers, what you see is the higher the gender equality, the higher the birthrate,” said Reiner Klingholz of the Berlin Institute for Population and Development.”

Anonymous writes:

“…the higher the gender equality, the higher the birthrate,” said Reiner Klingholz

Perhaps he hasn’t heard of the Amish.

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