FRBSF — Global Aging: More Headwinds for U.S. Stocks?

The boomers have had a marked influence economically as they passed through the stages of life. No reason to think that won't happen as they retire and start to draw on accumulated savings. Will this be offset?

The retirement of the baby boomers is expected to severely cut U.S. stock values in the near future. Since population aging is widespread across the world’s largest countries, this raises the question of whether global aging could adversely affect the U.S. equity market even further. However, the strong relationship between demographics and equity values in this country do not hold true in other industrial countries. This suggests that global aging is unlikely to create additional headwinds for U.S. equities.

FRBSF Economic Letter
Global Aging: More Headwinds for U.S. Stocks?
Zheng Liu, Mark M. Spiegel, and Bing Wang