IS DEMOGRAPHY DESTINY? PUTIN THINKS SO:

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered women cash to have more babies on Wednesday as he tackled a decline in population that is leaving swathes of the country deserted and threatening to strangle economic growth. In his annual address to the nation, Putin said each year Russia’s population fell by about 700,000 — or about the same as the population of San Francisco. He proposed new financial incentives to nudge up the birth rate.

As Philip Longman has noted, there’s a global baby bust, but it’s worse in some places — chiefly places of a statist bent — than others. Also addressed in the story are efforts to address Russia’s demographic problems by getting people to live longer, healthier lives, something where there’s plenty of room for improvement in contemporary Russia. I’ve got more on that subject in a somewhat diffferent vein, here.