MAR 9, 2026Mercatus Center at George Mason University
Jesús Fernández-Villaverde on the Quandary of Global Demographic Decline
- •
Accelerating demographic decline Global fertility rates are falling significantly faster than previous models projected, driven by structural shifts in urbanization and female educational attainment.
- •
Housing as a demographic barrier High real estate costs in productive urban centers act as a direct tax on family formation, necessitating supply-side interventions to combat population stagnation.
- •
AI as a labor hedge Artificial Intelligence and the potential for AGI represent the primary technological hope for sustaining economic growth in the face of a shrinking global workforce.
