This article in strategy+business covers an important, yet still highly underappreciated, trend whose ramifications will shape the world for the next half-century, and that is the shift in demographics, driving an aging population in the developed world and continued rapid population growth in the developing world. Far more than global warming, this trend has the potential to destabilize existing economies and upset the "world order," with all the potential chaos and, far too likely, violence that such change portends.

You can't fight demographics, and the figures that will shape the next 50 years have already been established. Japan, Europe, and (to a lesser extent - only because of higher immigration) the US will see an aging population, creating huge burdens on government coffers and the younger workers who will be expected to provide the tax revenue. This has been discussed for years but, since the consequences are still many years out and the elderly form such a powerful consumption and voting block, it is difficult to formulate a strategy to respond.

The interviewees discuss a range of ideas but only a few touch on the need to provide incentives to change behaviors. It is only through firm incentives that people, businesses, and government will change their everyday choices. Some practical (if admittedly difficult) ideas offered include:

• Delaying benefits from social insurance to encourage people to work later in life
• Encouraging retirees to move to lower cost-of-living regions to stretch the impact of their retirement benefits (though encouraging them to leave the country sounds a bit harsh)
• Using tax incentives to encourage larger families (to increase the future working population)
• Loosening up immigration policies
• Improving (perhaps subsidizing) child care coverage to encourage women to remain in the workforce
• Providing credits to encourage the hiring of older workers (where the alternative may be offshoring, where there are insufficient younger workers fill the necessary jobs)

And if you think that sounds challenging for the developed world, consider the challenges of developing economies, whose resources are, in many cases, insufficient to support their existing population. Some of the statistics shared are frightening:

• The population of Yemen will more than double from 17M to 39M people by 2020.
• Pakistan will add one-half the current population of Germany, or 38M people, over the next decade.

In such countries that already fight to maintain stability (and, in Yemen's case, lose), the potential for unrest is enormous. It is only by eventually moving beyond China and India and finding opportunities in Africa and the Middle East (which will represent over 20% of global population by 2050) that we can hope to provide an environment in which such countries can grow without violent disruption. This is not an altruistic wish, and it is my hope that the necessity of finding new markets will drive businesses and governments to focus their future efforts on Africa.

While this headline may seem rather unexceptional in today's age, there are a few things worth considering. First, a comment in this article states that "Previous efforts that offered rewards like discounts, airline miles and even real cash faltered." So many people now consider Farmville currency worth more than real cash? I wonder what the exchange rate is on this, and what it cost Microsoft to run this promotion with Zynga?

Also, and this is a bit off the beaten path, I wonder why no one ever considered using Monopoly (the game) money as an incentive? Especially Microsoft. After all, wouldn't that fit their brand image a bit better. Or maybe they are leaving that to Google.

If you are bold enough to make the attempt, here are some tips on how to sneak in a nap at work. Not that I'd ever do this, I never even nap at home. But if I were to do so, I'd go the app route. I don't qualify (yet) to attempt the approach shown above.

Wouldn't it be nice to have the "build it and they will come" luxury? Obviously, Apple has earned this through some major innovations, but the response to the iPad seems pretty much as laid out in this visual. More reserved reviews aptly describe it as a big iPhone. But it will be a success, because it is from Apple.

Moving beyond just billboards, here are 10 clever campaigns that have stood out for their unique approach. Some of them do seem too clever by half. One is a traditional billboard by Google, that starts a chain of puzzles which, when solved, results in an invitation to submit your resume to Google. One wonders if using Google to solve the puzzles is permitted.

The photo above is a "paint by number" poster, where the paint is really intended to be gum. This was sponsored by Hubba Bubba, nominally to fight the problem of people leaving gum on the street. That may seem altruistic, but certainly Hubba Bubba saw it more as an opportunity to raise awareness of their various flavors, regardless of their "official" reason for the campaign.

OK, I'll admit to being a sucker for creative consumer campaigns (at least for purposes of posting them here - not necessarily for letting them influence my strongly-formed brand preferences). Several in this post on WebUrbanist have been shared already, but there are a few new ones, like this from McDonald's, helping you identify when it's, say, Egg McMuffin o'clock. The Sony PSP transparent billboards are also innovative, more so than the similar Nike ones.

This study cited by the New York Times suggests that locations with a high percentage of the population having a bachelor degree or higher (their definition of "human capital") have higher "happiness" scores. Of course, we always need to be careful in assuming that correlation proves causation, as there may be a third factor that drives both scores higher simultaneously (or, the direction of causation may be reversed; perhaps people who are naturally happy have a higher tendency to seek a bachelor's degree). But there is at least some logic in the thought that education makes you happier, plus a positive message.

For a little Friday afternoon fun, a reminder that good copywriting requires soul. Or wait, I'm sorry, I mean having no soul.

This post summarizes the results of a study by the Hay Group to discover the top 20 companies at developing leadership skills and practices. The qualities they use to determine the results include:

Active management of succession plans
Career growth opportunities clear to employees
Use of corporate social responsibility program in recruiting
High proportion of women in senior leadership
Easy for employees to work from home
Strong internal talent pipeline

With such familiar names as GE (my first employer), P&G, Accenture, and 3M on the list, seems likely that it's a relatively stable group. Obviously, its tough to rapidly improve your performance in these categories, but these are worthy goals for any company that wants to sustain strong long-term performance.

This chart shows one of the major remaining risks to economic growth, and that is the continued stinginess of banks in loaning to businesses. The blog posts speculates that it may well be related to banks' uncertainty over pending regulations requiring larger cash reserves. While the need for higher cushions is clear, this high level is unhealthy, as the velocity of the money supply is reduced.