> What happens when active people are 1/3rd of the population or less and there are no more easy gains to be had? Old people retire, opening up jobs for younge

> What happens when active people are 1/3rd of the population or less and there are no more easy gains to be had? Old people retire, opening up jobs for younger workers. Old people die, freeing up housing stock and capital and tax money. And these will happen long before Croatia or Romania achiever maximum productivity. There's plenty of fat left to be trimmed. As long as the sustained rate of youth emigration is below the mortality rate -- or marginally higher while the country continues to develop -- conditions should improve for working age people (ignoring the chaos of politics). But perhaps I'm misunderstanding your implication or just not thinking this through. Could you elaborate on some of the negatives?