The world that awaits TTT

Some lines in the Economist jumped out at me recently:

"According to the Pew Research Centre, some 87% of Chinese, 50% of Brazilians and 45% of Indians think their country is going in the right direction, whereas 31% of Britons, 30% of Americans and 26% of the French do."

And:

"For most of its history America has kept its promise to give its citizens a good chance of living better than their parents. But these days, less than half of Americans think their children’s living standards will be better than theirs."

It seems to me that TTT will grow up in a world in which the rising economies of Brazil, China, India and others will become ever more important and confident of their role in the world. This prospect, and the reality of the competitive pressures which their rise is placing upon workers in the UK and the US, is tending to reduce the confidence in the future of many in the west. It is undoubtedly the case that western societies face new challenges.

And these contribute directly to the challenges that TTT's family will face: as the ageing of the UK and US populations has reduced the generosity of pensions, I worry that I'm not saving enough for my pension; as the European economy grows at 2 percent and the American 3 percent, compared with China at 10 percent and India at 9 percent, I worry that my wages won't rise fast enough to provide fully for TTT (not least earlier today when we looked into the cost of nurseries in London!)    

But, in spite of these challenges, I retain optimism both for our family and the world into which TTT will be born. We are a family possessed of many advantages which I never cease to be grateful for. And, as regards the world, I agree with the conclusion reached by the Economist:

"It may not feel like it in the West, but this is, in many ways, the best of times. Hundreds of millions are climbing out of poverty. The internet gives ordinary people access to information that even the most privileged scholar could not have dreamed of a few years ago. Medical advances are conquering diseases and extending lifespans. For most of human history, only a privileged few have reasonably been able to hope that the future would be better than the present. Today the masses everywhere can. That is surely reason to be optimistic."