Manoj Pradhan

This original and panoramic book proposes that the underlying forces of demography and globalisation will shortly reverse three multi-decade global trends – it will raise inflation and interest rates, but lead to a pullback in inequality. “Whatever the future holds”, the authors argue, “it will be nothing like the past”. Deflationary headwinds over the last three decades have been primarily due to an enormous surge in the world’s available labour supply, owing to very favourable demographic trends and the entry of China and Eastern Europe into the world’s trading system. This book demonstrates how these demographic trends are on the point of reversing sharply, coinciding with a retreat from globalisation. The result? Ageing can be expected to raise inflation and interest rates, bringing a slew of problems for an over-indebted world economy, but is also anticipated to increase the share of labour, so that inequality falls. Covering many social and politicalfactors, as well as those that are more purely macroeconomic, the authors address topics including ageing, dementia, inequality, populism, retirement and debt finance, among others. This book will be of interest and understandable to anyone with an interest on where the world’s economy may be going.

Polar Bear Pete is the regal and strong king of the Arctic. He is a traditional leader who has pride in his ordinary and well-behaved subjects; however, when the stars come out, and the kingdom's at rest, Pete has a secret passion. When an avalanche causes Pete to expose his secret talent to save his kingdom, Pete is terrified to see how the others will react. Pete learns that he needs to be proud of whom he is, and realizes that he is not the only animal keeping a secret.