As another comment points out, GDP can increase even as population declines, thanks to robotics and automation which make each worker more efficient. Demand fo

As another comment points out, GDP can increase even as population declines, thanks to robotics and automation which make each worker more efficient. Demand for real estate (housing) is the wild card -- does it fall broadly (as one would expect) or does it bifurcate into desirable urban areas (where prices continue to rise) and undesirable rural areas (where prices continue to fall)? In other words, even as absolute population shrinks and there is theoretically more room, do the remaining people spend all their resources trying to crowd into the same dense urban areas? So many other industries key off of housing that this, to me, seems like the cornerstone question to answer when predicting what the future economy looks like.