Globalization one valve for ageing pressures

As societies grow old, first in Japan and Europe and later in the Americas and industrialized Asia, labour productivity and hence opportunities for investment will suffer, all things being equal. The most efficient solution lies in international trade and the free movement of capital and labour across borders. But this is easier said than done, according to experts at a recent conference in Tokyo on global ageing sponsored by the Japan External Trade Organization and Washington, DC-based Centre for Strategic International Studies (CSIS).