FutureWire - futurism and emerging technology

Thursday, December 09, 2004

Life Expectancy May Decline By 2010

A bulwark of futurist thinking is the belief that life expectancy will steadily increase in the future. However, new research is calling that assumption into question.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as many as 40 countries will experience reductions in life expectancy from 1990 levels by 2010. Persistent diseases for which treatments are either extremely expensive or nonexistent -- such as AIDS -- are the primary culprits.

Sources: American Enterprise Institute, World Future Society