Second in a series
In a recent blog post on The New York Times Web site, noted economist Paul Krugman pointed out how much of Japan's economic decline in the past two decades could be explained by demographics and said the drop in the working-age population has been severely hurting its share of global economic growth.
Although using demographics to explain changes in economic growth is nothing new, experts said the trend seemed especially relevant to Japan, as well as economic powerhouses China and South Korea. All three have experienced a surge in population and dropping birthrates over the past half-century.