A weekly round-up of leading journals

Even as our bones and teeth soften, the rest of our body hardens,” explains Atul Gawande while detailing the bodily implications of getting older in the lead story of The New Yorker (‘The way we age now’, April 30). But modern medicine is delaying as well as managing many of those implications, and the resultant longevity is, he says, has led to the “rectangularisation” of survival. Earlier, populations formed a demographic pyramid, with the very young at the wide base and the elderly forming the narrow top layer. That’s fast changed. In a developed country like the US, in thirty years there will be as many people above the age of eighty as there will be under the age of five. There are two ways, argues Gawande, in which societies are averting their eyes from the challenge of optimising the benefits of this change for the individual and for society. One, they need to reconsider the established schedules of retirement. And two, they need to further enhance the healthcare system by putting greater emphasis on services for the elderly.

In the May/June issue of Foreign Affairs (which carries a lead story, ‘Al-Qaeda strikes back’, on how the terrorists may be luring the US into a war with Iran), Nicholas Eberstadt and Hans Groth count the benefits for Old Europe from a healthy ageing population (‘Healthy Old Europe’). In the context of the EU’s inability to match America’s GDP growth rate, they consider widespread fears about Europe’s “inexorable demographic decline”, with the birth rate well below replacement level. “But,” they write, “whatever the demographic challenges, the economic implications of western Europe’s population outlook are by no means unremittingly bleak. Western Europe’s aging population is exceptionally healthy. As a result, western Europeans are more capable of remaining productive into their advanced years now than they used to be, and perhaps even more so than their American counterparts. Western Europe could reap economic benefits from the healthy aging of its population.”

The Economist’s cover leader (‘When everything connects’, April 28-May 4) along with a special report anticipate the full implications of the coming wireless revolution: “Just as microprocessors have been built into everything in the past few decades, so wireless communications will become part of objects big and small. The possibilities are legion. Gizmos and gadgets will talk to other devices — and be serviced and upgraded from afar. Sensors on buildings and bridges will run them efficiently and ensure they are safe. Wireless systems on farmland will measure temperature and humidity and control irrigation systems. Tags will certify the origins and distribution of food and the authenticity of medicines. Tiny chips on or in people’s bodies will send vital signs to clinics to help keep them healthy.” The challenge: with so much information flying around, finding a balance between regulation to ensure privacy and encouragement to ensure innovation.

Meanwhile: Businessweek (‘Road to riches’, May 7) explores banks and private investment firms’ enchantment with public infrastructure. Who’s getting the better deal, government or investors? In The New Republic (‘The Persian paradox’, April 23) Robert Kagan notes that while the US may not want to use military force against Iran, its diplomatic intiative would suffer if it was not backed by the threat of force. And Time (May 7) takes in the “best of Asia” by trying not to equate the best with the most luxurious but with the most culturally vibrant. Golf in Kabul, anyone?