I recently watched a panel talking about the role of managers in maximizing shareholder value under corporate law. The question was where had this absolutely wrong idea come from, and it was concluded that it was economists with a lack of training in law who were the culprits. So now the question why demographics should be a challenge, and I have to conclude it is because economists have little idea about how productivity comes about and how it can be used to make the world a better place. Given the really sad state of economic data now and for most of the past, and economists fixation on the analysis of these awful data, not to mention that the biggest constant we have is change, it is no wonder that economists are having such a difficult time figuring out what is going on and how to fix it. And, please, when are we going to stop using GDP and GDP growth as a measure of economic health?