We need to rethink old age, with Martin Wolf

Life and Art from FT Weekend

Forhecz Topher

Tv & Film, Arts, Society & Culture

4.6 • 601 Ratings

🗓️ 17 June 2024

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Imagine a world in which the typical life arc isn’t one of studying for 20 years, working for 40 years, then sitting retired and lonely for 35. As people live longer than ever, our chief economics columnist Martin Wolf worries that this approach to old age is unsustainable and unaffordable. He thinks we can and should do better. Martin is one of the world’s most respected writers on economics and politics, and at 77, he’s a prime example of staying active later in life. Today, he joins Lilah to discuss what we can do to age better, individually and as societies.

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We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap. We’re on X @lifeandartpod and on email at [email protected]. We are grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify. And please share this episode with your friends!

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Links (all FT links get you past the paywall):

– Martin’s column, ‘Increased longevity will bring profound social change’: https://on.ft.com/4aX6FTg

– His column on falling fertility rates, ‘From the baby boom to the baby bust’: https://on.ft.com/4ejtxip

– Our earlier episode, ‘Martin Wolf on how to change one’s mind’.

– Martin’s podcast series ‘Democracy in Peril’ is available now via the FT News Briefing feed. Click here for the latest episode, or search ‘Martin Wolf series’ wherever you listen

– Lilah and Martin refer to Andrew Scott’s book The Longevity Imperative

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Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Life and Art from FT Weekend. I'm Lila Raptoculus. You may have noticed that we are living longer.
0:10.0	There are more people today who are older than 80 than ever before. Fewer people are dying as infants and in childbirth and to infectious diseases.
0:19.3	And that's true across the world, not just in our richest countries.
0:23.6	This is undoubtedly a wonderful thing, but we haven't talked enough about what it all means for us.
0:29.9	How will our lives change as more people live into their 80s and 90s and 100s?
0:35.4	And how should they change?
0:37.2	My colleague Martin Wolf is one of the world's
0:39.3	most influential thinkers on the global economy. He's the FT's chief economics commentator, so he's
0:44.8	often writing about things like inflation and how politics and economics affect each other.
0:49.9	But he recently wrote two columns reflecting on this broader human phenomenon and considering
0:54.8	what life will be like as we live even longer, both for us as individuals and for society.
1:00.7	Today, we're lucky to have Martin joining us from London to talk about it.
1:04.4	Martin, hi.
1:05.3	Welcome to the show.
1:06.3	It's a pleasure to be with you.
1:08.2	It's such a pleasure to have you here.
1:10.4	Martin, I'm going to start by
1:11.9	saying that you're quite admired here at the FT for your own gregariousness and longevity.
1:17.6	You've been at the Financial Times for 37 years, is that right? Yes, it's really almost embarrassing,
1:23.1	but perhaps given the topic appropriate. I mean, you've been writing at least two columns a week.
1:29.4	You just released your own podcast series.
1:32.9	I'm going to take a risk here and ask if you don't mind sharing your age?
	...

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