Population Aging is occurring across the world and the older populations of many countries are projected to grow at unprecedented rates over the next thirty years. Most of the growth in the 60+ population by 2050, however, will occur in developing countries mainly in Asia. Some of these countries, such as China, have experienced extraordinary economic growth since 1980, but even these countries will be strongly challenged to develop even minimal, by developed nations standards, income support, health and long-term care programs for their increasingly larger populations of older people. Any effort to address this growing tension between the increasing need for services generated by large increases in their older populations and the limited resources available to policymakers must occur in the context of concerns regarding economic policy and social justice. That is, what kind of political economy might give a developing nation the best chance of achieving enough sustained growth to meet the needs of its vulnerable populations, including elderly persons threatened by poverty and poor health? In addressing this fundamental public policy issue the authors will offer a critique of the neoliberal economic model that is currently dominant in the U.S. and European Union (EU) and in many developing countries and make the case for an alternative model based on keynesian concepts of the role of the state in economic growth and social provision. The authors will argue that public investments in income support and health programs are essential to generating equitable economic growth and meeting social needs.
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