Ugly world facts.

• Position: Off the News

"In every rich country except Israel the total fertility rate (a measure of births per woman) is below 2.1--the level required to keep the population stable. In Japan it is 1.4."

--The Economist

"The productivity slump is worldwide. So says a new report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The study compared the annual growth rates for labor productivity in thirty-two countries for two periods, 1995- 2004 and 2004-2013. Every country but one (Spain) had slower productivity growth in the second decade than in the first. Some examples: Canada, from 1.3 percent to 0.6 percent; France, from 1.5 percent to 0.6 percent; Germany, from 1.5 percent to 0.8 percent; Japan, from 1.8 percent to 0.9...