logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2023
26m 10s

Not born yesterday: the world’s ageing p...

The Economist
About this episode

Fertility rates are falling to worrying levels, and an older, smaller, global population is bad news for economic growth. Apple’s new headset could revolutionise the virtual reality world, but only if it sells. And, despite being in decline for decades, the tide is turning for Britain’s seaside towns


For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, try a free 30-day digital subscription by going to www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Yesterday
Wage against the machine: the distortions of minimum pay
<p>For decades governments have found minimum-wage rises a politically expedient means of redistribution. But the onward <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/11/20/why-governments-should-stop-raising-the-minimum-wage?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_so ... Show More
22m 16s
Nov 24
Emission creep: a contentious COP closes
<p>It is telling and troubling that the annual climate talking-shop’s <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2025/11/22/cop30-ends-with-a-whimper?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownote ... Show More
25m 51s
Nov 21
Flee country: Britain seeks to slash migration
<p>Britain’s home secretary Shabana Mahmood proposed a big shift in <a href="https://www.economist.com/britain/2025/11/20/will-britain-copy-asylum-policy-from-a-place-with-poor-integration?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discov ... Show More
23m 22s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2023
Not born yesterday: the world’s ageing population
<p>Fertility rates are falling to worrying levels, and an <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/06/01/global-fertility-has-collapsed-with-profound-economic-consequences?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.conten ... Show More
26m 10s
Jan 2024
The Intelligence: Growing, no pains
America seems to be in a best-of-worlds scenario: growth is outpacing expectations even as inflation keeps falling—how will the party end? This week’s loss of the Peregrine One Moon lander was disappointing, but our correspondent sees the good news from the launch (9:19). And how ... Show More
25m 13s
Apr 2024
'Rewilding' the smartphone generation: one school's story
With young people in Britain and across the world increasingly reliant on smartphones, and many teens now openly admitting they’re addicted to social media, could an entire generation be suffering serious and irreversible damage, and what should we as a society do to stop it?This ... Show More
32m 16s
Feb 2023
How to adapt for an ageing world, with Vegard Skirbekk
Following the Japanese prime minister Kishida Fumio's recent warning that his country's demographic crisis was approaching a tipping point, Katie Stallard speaks to Vegard Skirbekk, a population economist at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and author of Decline and Prosp ... Show More
20m 44s
Mar 2024
The Intelligence: Europe is not so hot on its green parties
Melting ski slopes, floods and droughts are enraging the continent’s citizens, but not quite enough for them to consider voting differently. Our correspondent explains what the electorate is weighing up. The world’s largest maker of glasses is branching out into tech (10:41). And ... Show More
24m 14s
May 2024
The Intelligence: The kids are alright, turns out
When you look around the world, and at a wider set of measures, Generation Z are far better off than the popular narrative would have you believe. We examine what India’s push to soup up its nukes means for the global arms race (09:30). And even as global fertility rates fall, su ... Show More
21m 26s