Marga Peeters, born in Weert, the Netherlands, in 1965. Ph.D. from Maastricht University. Econometrician research/policy at European Commission, Brussels.
Fellow (1 September 2011 – 30 June 2012)
DEMOGRAPHIC PRESSURE ACROSS THE GLOBE – FISCAL AND LABOUR MARKET EFFECTS & THE IMPACT ON MIGRATION AND INTERNATIONAL CAPITAL FLOWS
As developed and developing economies across the globe have been ageing rapidly, demographic structural changes put pressure on public finances and labour markets worldwide. The shrinking working age population pays the additional fiscal costs of state pensions and health care in each country, developed or developing, sooner or later. From our applied econometric research covering 75 percent of the projected nine billion people worldwide in 2050 follows that ageing, though identified as a problem a long time ago, is far worse than foreseen by macro-economic policy makers. It can only be tackled via drastic labour market adjustments and sticking to fairness principles stating that workers need protection as they support the welfare systems.
For Europe and other developing economies, these findings interfere with the sovereign debt crisis that succeeded the global financial crisis. The more so, economic problems arising from the retiring baby boom generations will remain a focal point during next decades.
Selected Articles (written at NIAS):
Peeters, M. and Albers, R. (2013), Food Prices, Government Subsidies and Fiscal Balances in South Mediterranean Countries. Development Policy Review, 31: 273–290. doi: 10.1111/dpr.12007