When we asked the computer to look at population, there was a remarkable correlation to taxation. The higher the taxes, the lower the birth rate. Indeed, this applied in both ancient and modern times. Even the Roman Emperor Augustus (27BC-14AD) who cherish family and was the first to picture even his daughter Julia on a coin, sent her into exile for her sexual promiscuity and the man he blamed for creating the age of “free love” Ovid exiling him to the Black Sea region. Augustus then enacted his “Family Laws” making it illegal for men not to get married.
Here we are today and indeed it is taxes that have been once again reducing the marriage rate and population growth. Taxes have risen under socialism dramatically that we would have been better off if they didn’t pretend to care so much. It now takes two incomes to survive. Women are in the work force and many times are now earning more than men. What is taking place is typical in the final stages of decline. In the case of Augustus, he was the FIRST Roman Empire. The promiscuity went hand and hand with the corruption in the Republic and curiously the two collapsed and led to Imperial Rome. The same trend emerged in Russia and now Putin is urging Russians to have three children to reverse the trend.
Even in Japan, the same problem exists. It is simply a shocking correlation but the higher the tax rate, the lower the marriage rate and birth rate. Children are staying with the parents longer. It is becoming more difficult even for two people to start from scratch. Japan is also experiencing a sharp decline in marriage and birth rates. Some are starting to blame the fact that women are working and have become independent rather than seeking the family life.
The whole problem with Social Security is the imbalance in the birth rate among the generations. There was World War II and that prompted the Baby Boom. Now the next generation is smaller in size and thus the Ponzi scheme is failing when there are less people working than receive retirement benefits.
American young women in their ’20s are moving back to the way marriage use to be before socialism and still tends to be in the old Iron Curtain nations. They are starting to prefer established men 15-20 years their senior. The Hollywood image of love at first site has led to the highest divorce rate in human history as expectations of perfection prove unrealistic. Generally, the over 30 women were raised by the Women Libbers of the ’60s and tend to be more independent seeking men their own age.
This has sparked research into the whole age difference. It turns out that the older man and younger women match results in men living longer. Of course this gets the women furious, but perhaps the problem has been not just socialism, but this image of love at first sight spawned by Hollywood. The younger women keep the men active longer whereas a couple the same age slow down together.
We are finishing up the Interest Rate forecasting Report and Pension Crisis. You may find it very interesting but the earliest pensions were in fact marriage contracts. The whole thing was based for centuries on the men first establishing himself and then having to prove he could take care of the woman and it was a business decision that obviously had to include some chemistry. There are records showing that people paid fines to the king for not getting married and paid penalties to the king not to marry particular women.
This will be a very interesting read adding a whole new dimension to the human existence.
