Failing pension systems undermine Asia’s macro story

It’s become fashionable over the past few years to bemoan the spendthrift West and applaud the soundness of economic policy in emerging markets, particularly Asia. But what if a lot of the West’s problems, and the East’s rise, have as much to do with demographics as with decision-making? And what if the West’s welfare states are less a conscious, ideological choice, and more a universal reaction to those demographic trends? And what if Asia is going to have to face the same change…