Books of predictions are best read after the predictions have, or have not, come true.
George Friedman, the chief executive officer of Statfor, Austin, Texas, a geopolitcal analysis firm, has written “The Next 100 Years,” a prediction book that won’t be at its ripest until 2099.
But the book might appeal to some readers with an interest in long-term care (LTC) and long-term care insurance (LTCI), because Friedman suggests that one of the major conflicts of the coming century might hinge on the United States’ growing need for LTC services.
Friedman talks about what he expects to be the growing, inefficiency-driven weakness of China and Japan, Russia’s efforts to expand buffer zones, turmoil in the Middle East — and long-term care for old old U.S. baby boomers.
Friedman expects the United States to replace the fences that now keep Mexican immigrants out with signs inviting Mexicans to come on in and tend to our elderly.
Americans with Mexican ancestry already make up a large percentage of the population in areas such as Arizona and Texas that the United States wrested from Mexico in 1848, through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. As more Mexicans from Mexico enter the United States, and as Mexico becomes stronger and more prosperous, Mexico could start to challenge U.S. dominance over North America, Friedman says.