Demographic Change and Intergenerational Justice

by Tremmel, Joerg Chet

• ISBN13: 9783540770831
• ISBN10: 3540770836
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-05-01
• Publisher: Springer Nature

Summary

Intergenerational justice has been achieved if the opportunities of the members of the next generation to fulfill their needs are better than those of the members of the preceding generation. For this, each generation ought to leave for the next generation an amount of resources is at least equal to its own amount.The book deals with the complex relationship between intergenerational justice and demographic change and is characterized by its interdisciplinary approach. The authors come from a multitude of professional backgrounds and from several countries. This illustrates the implications of the demographic shift from many different perspectives. The book deals not only with the aspects of economic policy but also with environmental, societal and philosophical issues. The comprehensive volume is composed of five sections that pinpoint demographic trends, examine the impact of demographic changes on key indicators, investigate the relationship between key indicators and intergenerational justice, scrutinize population policies, and finally propose ways to implement long-term thinking on these issues.

Table of Contents

Demographic Trends
Low Fertility in Europe in a Global Demographic Context	p. 3
Introduction	p. 3
The End of Population Growth in a Demographically Divided World	p. 4
The Changing Global Distribution of Population and Human Capital	p. 8
How Low Can Fertility Fall in Europe?	p. 10
Three Mechanisms that May Cause a Downward Spiral in Future Birth Rates	p. 13
Conclusions	p. 17
The Impact of Demographic Developments on Key Indicators
Demography and Budget Consolidation: An Analysis and Possible Courses of Action	p. 23
Introduction	p. 23
Public Debt Monitor	p. 24
Successful Consolidation: An International Comparison	p. 27
Reform Measures on the Expenditure Side	p. 27
Reform Measures on the Revenue Side	p. 28
Institutional Changes in the Budget Process	p. 28
Drawing Conclusions from "Soft Factors"	p. 29
Summary and Outlook	p. 29
Intergenerational Justice and Economic Growth. A Challenge for Economic Policy	p. 31
Economic Theory and the Theory of Justice	p. 31
Germany: Facing Demographic Change and the Need for Education Reform	p. 33
Driving Forces of Economic Growth	p. 39
The Concept of Intergenerational Justice	p. 43
A National Strategy for Long-term Growth	p. 47
Demographic Development: Not Really a Problem for Coming Generations	p. 53
Introduction	p. 53
Demographic Change and Economic Consequences	p. 54
A Few Theoretical Preliminary Remarks	p. 54
... and Their Empirical Relevance	p. 57
Prospects	p. 59
More Goods for Less People	p. 59
Growing Populations in Other World Areas	p. 60
Aging, Not Shrinking Is the Problem	p. 60
Political Recommendations	p. 61
Family Policy	p. 61
Migration	p. 61
Immigration Is a Help but Not a Solution	p. 62
Increasing Duration of Working Life	p. 63
Work Longer!	p. 64
Increase of Labor Force Participation	p. 64
Women at Work!	p. 64
Old, Not Stupid!	p. 65
Reform of Labor Force Behavior	p. 66
Lifelong Learning	p. 66
Reform of the Pension System	p. 67
Many, Instead of Single Pillars	p. 67
Make Your Choice!	p. 68
Summary	p. 69
Macroeconomics and Age Structure in a Welfare State - Sweden 1946-2005	p. 71
Demography and Welfare State Macroeconomics	p. 71
Macroeconomic Mechanisms for Age Effects	p. 74
Estimation Methods	p. 78
Estimated Age Patterns	p. 81
Discussion of the Estimates	p. 84
The Importance of Age Structure for Swedish Economic Development	p. 87
Concluding Remarks	p. 91
The Relationship Between Key Sustainability Indicators and Intergenerational Justice
Demographic Change and Sustainability: A Generational Balance	p. 99
Introduction: Is Growing Good and Shrinking Bad? Or Vice Versa?	p. 99
What Does "Generational Balance" Mean in the Context of Sustainability?	p. 100
Demographic Development in Germany - Regional Disparities	p. 101
Germans Don't Like Children?	p. 101
Who Should Have a Family ...	p. 103
... Where Have the Women Gone?	p. 103
Germany's East Is Emptying!	p. 104
Consequences of Spatial Distribution Underestimated	p. 104
Energy, Settlements, Mobility - Securing Public Utilities and Services	p. 106
Rapidly Changing Lifestyles After the War	p. 106
Heritage/Legacy	p. 107
Demographic Change Will Be No Solution	p. 108
Options for Future Developments	p. 110
A Change in Energy Consumption Is Required	p. 112
Energy, Settlements and Mobility Are Interconnected	p. 114
Natural Heritage - A Matter of Culture	p. 116
Our Natural Heritage Is Cultural Heritage	p. 116
Conservation Versus Development: Leading the Way into the Impasse?	p. 117
Forces of Change	p. 118
Preserving Nature by Allowing for Change	p. 120
Conclusion: The Challenge of Adaptation	p. 122
Intergenerational Justice in an Extreme Longevity Scenario	p. 127
Introduction	p. 127
The Truth About the Fountain of Youth?	p. 128
Ethical Issues in Biogerontological Endeavours	p. 129
Consequences for Intergenerational Justice?	p. 130
Anti-aging or Acceptance of Frailty and Finiteness? - A Question for All Generations	p. 132
Intergenerational Justice and Population Policies
An Ethical Assessment of the Legitimacy of Anti-natalistic Birth Policies	p. 137
Introduction	p. 137
Focus on Anti-natalistic Birth Policies	p. 137
The Human Rights Discourse and the Ethical Discourse	p. 142
The Dissemination of Birth Policies	p. 143
The Role of the State	p. 143
The Democratic Proviso	p. 145
The Link Between Severity and Efficiency	p. 146
The Classification of Birth Policies	p. 147
The Indirect Approach	p. 148
The Appellative Approach	p. 149
The Financial Incentives Approach	p. 149
Restricting Financial Incentives	p. 149
Imposition of Financial Disincentives	p. 149
The Rationing Approach	p. 150
Reaching Ethical Decisions	p. 150
Incentives and Disincentives	p. 152
Are Bonuses and Maluses Equal from an Ethical Point of View?	p. 152
The Four-fifths Rule	p. 153
Arguments Against the Four-fifths Rule	p. 156
The Implementation of Long-term Thinking
Changing the German Constitution in Favor of Future Generations - Four Perspectives from the Young Generation	p. 163
Introduction, by Joerg Chet Tremmel	p. 163
Intergenerational Justice from the Perspective of the Christian Democrats/Christian Socials, by Marco Wanderwitz, Member of the German Bundestag (CDU)	p. 164
Intergenerational Justice - The Social Democratic Perspective, by Peter Friedrich, Member of the German Bundestag (SPD)	p. 165
"We Have Only Borrowed the Earth from Our Children" - The Green Perspective, by Anna Luhrmann, Member of the German Bundestag (Green)	p. 168
Intergenerational Justice in the Constitution - The Liberal Perspective, by Michael Kauch, Member of the German Bundestag (FDP)	p. 171
Demographic Pressure and Attitudes Towards Public Intergenerational Transfers in Germany - How Much Room Left for Reforms?	p. 175
Introduction	p. 175
Theoretical Starting Point - Mannheim's Concept of Political Generations	p. 177
Preferences Towards Public Intergenerational Transfers	p. 180
Beyond the Dichotomy of Altruism Versus Exchange: Motivations for Intergenerational Transfers	p. 181
A Set of Motivations for Public Transfers	p. 184
Empirical Findings on Preferences Towards Public Intergenerational Transfers	p. 186
Socio-demographic Influence on Preferences Towards Public Transfers: Does Age Matter?	p. 188
Conclusions	p. 189
Empirical Analysis: Public Intergenerational Transfers in Germany	p. 190
Policy-relevant Demographic Trends and the Recent Transfer Policy Shift in Germany	p. 190
Current Preferences Towards Public Transfers: Descriptive Findings from the Population Policy Acceptance Survey 2003	p. 194
Preferences of the Elderly Towards Transfers for the Younger Generation: Does Age Matter?	p. 200
Summary and Directions for Future Research	p. 202
Information on the Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations	p. 207
Subject Index	p. 211
Index of Persons	p. 217
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