Did you know …
A societal imbalance
438 million people in China will be 60 or older by 2050, leaving just 1.6 working-age adults for each elder. (Couples in Shanghai can now have a second child. )
America’s education paradox
Americans rank 15th to 25th in math, reading, science and problem solving, but are #4 in % of higher-education degrees earned.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Countries with lower “social dysfunction” (e.g. based on lower rates of homicide, teen pregnancy, unemployment, poverty, etc.) tend to be more secular. Those that have higher rates of “dysfunction,” such as Portugal and the United States, are more religious (as measured by self-professed belief, church attendance, etc.)
Democracy isn’t always good for your health.
Paul Collier, author of “The Bottom Billion,” ran studies on post-conflict societies to learn what factors lead to peace. While the risk of violence decreases during an election year, it doubles the following year from 5 to 10%.
Source: A set of “interesting” tidbits from the August 24th, 2009 airline lounge copy of Newsweek I read while waiting for my return flight from Shanghai to San Francisco.
