In the 2004 Harvard Journal “The Age Explosion: Baby Boomers and Beyond”, I predicted that the world would experience unprecedented social changes and unrest due to a combination of the inevitable populations’ aging cycles and misdirected macroeconomic policies. Before the bust, in the media and my 2005 testimony to the Congress, I reiterated my compelling predictions and warned the country that increased public/private debt would eventually crush us. People should not use their house as an ATM machine and should not rely on their illusory house equity to support them in their vulnerable years of retirement. Regrettably, a lot of my predictions have come true.

This blog has been set up to truthfully inform you and open up a solutions-focused dialogue about the real challenges facing our country/world in confronting the dual tsunamis of aging populations and misguided macroeconomic policies.

Today, as a kick off to my blog, I am starting a daunting around the world initiative to learn first-hand what is really going on those eight countries which are the first to experience the extreme social unrest due to these dual tsunamis.

Starting tomorrow, October 12, I will be reporting from the UK, Spain and Greece whose social unrest is well publicized. From there, I am off to “Arab Spring” countries which have large young unemployed populations and am ending up in China/Japan where aging populations are now having a significant impact on their cultures and macroeconomic policies.

Since all the countries visited are facing these critical challenges before the US, we have he opportunity to learn from their experiences and develop timely and effective policies to address our coming social and economic challenges.

Stay tuned, Paul Hodge, October 11, 2011