The truth behind America's growth story.

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DEMOGRAPHICS ARE EVERYTHING

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"In the past decade, American population growth has averaged 0.8 percent a year, eight times faster than Europe's, and Japan's population has not grown at all. Increasingly, then, the underlying difference between the fast- and slow-growing economies is explained more by the differences in population growth than by productivity. And the United States now relies more than ever on demographics to defend its economic power. In the past decade, population growth, including immigration, has accounted for roughly half of the potential economic growth rate in the United States, compared with just one-sixth in Europe, and none in Japan.

Since 2005, per capita gross domestic product has grown on average by 0.6 percent a year in the United States, exactly the same rate as in Japan and virtually the same rate as in the 19 nations of the eurozone. In other words, if it weren't for the boost from babies and immigrants, the United States economy would look much like those supposed...

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