Japan's prime minister says his country is on the brink of not being able to function as a society because of its falling birth rate. Fumio Kishida said it was a case of "now or never." Japan - a population of 125 million - is estimated to have had fewer than 800,000 births last year. In the 1970s, that figure was more than two million.
Birth rates are slowing in many countries, including Japan's neighbours. But the issue is particularly acute in Japan as life expectancy has risen in recent decades, meaning there are a growing number of older people, and a declining numbers of workers to support them.
As a 50-year old economist, it seems odd to be writing that Germany is the "sick man of Europe" but it seems that this is where we are. The German economy is growing at a slower rate than the UK, and it seems that the government is struggling to fix it.
It seems that Germany is suffering from a range of structural issues: an ageing population, low levels of investment and declining infrastructure as well as the limited role out of digital services all mean that the economy might be the only G7 member to shrink in 2023.