Event Description
11AM to 5:30PM Eastern Time
Declining fertility and the resulting aging of a nation’s population can affect a number of macroeconomic outcomes. By slowing labor force growth, it can reduce GDP, increase wages, reduce firm entry, and lower innovative activity. By increasing the demand for assets, it can reduce interest rates and raise capital intensity and labor productivity. Population aging can also strain public finances by increasing per capita government expenditure and reducing tax receipts, leading to higher levels of debt in the short run and requiring a fiscal adjustment in the long run. In these and other ways, population aging can affect economic wellbeing and on the distribution of income. The net impact will differ from country to country, depending on demographics, institutions, and policies.
To explore these and other related issues, on Friday, September 18, 2026, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) will host a virtual research conference, supported by the National Institute of Aging and jointly organized by the Center on the Economics of Demography of Aging at the University of California, Berkeley, and Center for Aging and Health Research at the NBER.
Learn more and view the program here.
Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/nbervideos