Description: The major economies of the world are steaming together toward a huge, yet-unseen iceberg: global aging. This looming demographic challenge may become the transcendent issue of the 21st century, affecting not just our economies but our political systems, lifestyles, ethics, and even our military security. In today's developed world, people 65 and over represent 14 percent of the total population. That share will almost double by 2030. Fertility rates are so low in many developed nations that populations may actually decrease by half by the end of the next century, causing a huge imbalance between the young and the old. The developed world has already promised future retirees some $35 trillion in public pension benefits -- and much more including health benefits -- for which no money has been set aside.

How countries choose to deal with these unfunded mega-liabilities will become the most expensive economic question in world history. As populations age and decline, will economies decline as well? Does generational war loom in our future? What happens as medical progress inevitably confronts increasingly scarce resources? Who lives? Who dies? Who decides? And, if older developed countries try to depend on the savings of younger developing countries, how will this change the global balance of power? In Gray Dawn, Peter G. Peterson, the respected statesman of Washington and Wall Street, sounds the warning bell and prescribes a set of detailed solutions which, if implemented early, will prevent the need for Draconian measures later.

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