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The world is run by old

Opinion Geopolitics

men in a hurry
The advanced age of leaders is a destabilising
force in international politics

JANAN GANESH Add to myFT

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© Carl Godfrey

Janan Ganesh
Published YESTERDAY 434

Europe, not America, is the great exception. In a world of

nation states, it has the supranational EU. In a world that
understands the permanence of violence, it came to believe
that it had transcended such things. (Hence the embarrassed
rush to re-arm now.) And in a world of old leaders, its
Macrons and Melonis stand out ever more as prodigies.

The numbers should amaze us. Donald Trump, Xi Jinping,

Narendra Modi and Vladimir Putin are all in their seventies.
So are Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey, Benjamin
Netanyahu of Israel, Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil. The president and
supreme leader of Iran are 70 and 86 respectively. The
presidents of Nigeria and Indonesia are each 73. More than
half of the world’s population, and much of its land area and
military capacity, is in the hands of men who are older than
Ronald Reagan was when he entered the White House at
what seemed a dicey 69.

One of the destabilising forces in the world today is the

advanced age of those who run it.

For one thing, old leaders have an incentive to secure a

legacy — a defining achievement — before time runs out for
them. The unification of mainland China with Taiwan is an
example of such a project. So is avenging the loss of Russia’s
prestige and “strategic depth” after the cold war. Even
Trump’s haste to find a settlement in Ukraine, however
invidious the details of such a peace might be to that nation,
and to end world trade as we have known it, whatever the
economic cost, suggests an old man in a hurry.

The problem with aged leaders is not their health — almost

all those named above are robust and lucid — but their
incentives. As well as not having much time to leave a mark,
they won’t have decades of retirement in which to suffer the
legal and reputational penalties of any disastrous act
committed in office.

We have to get our heads around, if not a paradox, then a

surprise. Age, which “should” instil caution and restraint in
people, quite often emboldens them. This is as true of voters
as of their leaders. Who would have guessed that western
electorates would turn more anti-establishment as the
median age increased? It was disproportionately the old who
brought us Brexit and Trump.

But it is the leaders who are worth dwelling on here.

Even if all these septuagenarian office-holders were

governing with care, the other problem is that replacing
long-established leaders is itself destabilising. In
democracies, at least, there is a process — if Trump chooses
to respect the 22nd Amendment — but what is the succession
plan for a Putin or Xi? There is scope not just for palace
intrigue and counter-intrigue, but for the kind of public
dissent that would be unthinkable when a regime is at its
peak. The Arab spring happened in part because a cohort of
north African leaders, such as Egypt’s then octogenarian
Hosni Mubarak, had grown old together. Imagine several far
more powerful countries having to replace calcified regimes
at the same time.

And imagine trying to anticipate what comes after them.

Putin and Erdoğan have led their countries as head of
government or state for almost all of this century. Xi and
Modi have been in place for over a decade each. When Ali
Khamenei became Iran’s supreme leader, the Soviet Union
still existed. Netanyahu, like Lula, is a retread. To some
extent, these countries — or at least their states — are
products of their current leaders. There are few eerier
experiences than asking a western spy or diplomat how a
post-Putin Russia might act in the world. What comes back
is elegant guesswork, or a shrug.

Someone will correct me, but I can’t think of another point in

history when so many world leaders were reaching old age at
the same time. (If “old age” sounds drastic, remember that
nowhere is male life expectancy higher than 85.) Even on the
eve of the first world war, now remembered as an era of
whiskered decrepits sending teenagers into hell, the Kaiser
was in his mid-fifties.

How then has Europe, which now has the highest median
age of any continent, mostly avoided the trend to oldness
among its leaders?

It might have something to do with those other ways in

which the continent is exceptional. In parts of the world that
think in terms of hard power, clear lines of authority and the
nation as something of a family to be guarded, it is natural
enough to find “parental” leaders. Where government is a
technocratic exercise, the gradual fine-tuning of a
prosperous peace, that won’t be so true. Notice that since
Europe woke up to the harshness of the world with the
invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Britain and Germany have
elected unusually old heads of government. (Even then,
neither Sir Keir Starmer nor Friedrich Merz is yet 70.)
 Either way, the world is living through a lesson in the
perverse consequences of age. It seems that age confers
wisdom, but also a certain liberation. It imposes a sense of
social duty, but also a deadline for personal achievement. To
explain the disorder of the modern world, it is far more
intellectually proper to cite economic trends and grand
historical forces. But perhaps part of the story is that a few
old men are striving for a legacy in the time that is left to
them. If so, it follows that things will get worse as their
numbered days go by.

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All Comments 434

Newest

PM 19 MINUTES AGO

In short, their fault, in Janan's view, is that they are old. Not that
their older wisdom prevents the perversion of woke politics which
cripples governance, not that a grounded long-term view can only
come from years of leading a grounded life, not that the failure in
governance is not a product of age but failed idealism. Generations
have suffered under failed leftist idealism. Equally, I am sure there
will be failures under rightist (?) idealism.

Trump will fail not because of his age but because of his blind right
wing racial idealism. Biden failed for the same nonsense and belief
that he is the absolute saviour for everyone who don't like Trump.
NZ's Ardern failed because of idealism about a leftist utopia, Macron
is failing as a "young" leader because of his failed flirtation with
extreme right wing while paying lip service to the poor (champagne
socialism is alive and well), same with Starmer (another "young gun")
because of his idealism and no idea what he stands for, and, worst of
all, for all the lofty posturing and wokery surrounding Obama, he
was the worst president for the US and a leader for the world for his
dithering, posturing and most of all knowingly giving false hope,
through bland management speak, to millions. Worked on the young
to a degree and then died its natural death.

At least some of the older politicians are grounded in reality and

that poverty does not want quotes but actual lifting of poor from
below the poverty line care does not require false hope but real
below the poverty line, care does not require false hope but real
opportunity, enabling individuals rather than dishing out free money
and most of all, a realisation that a future can only be built after
learning from the mistakes of the past. For some pasts you need
older leaders to know the reality then - not just opinions of a cabal
of opinion writers of "what it was like".

This could have been a better column. And I am usually the one
lampooning the Boomers for hoarding everything and denying
others the fruits of life.
Recommend Reply Share Report

Show More Replies

Fred 33 MINUTES AGO

In a world that understands the permanence of violence, [the EU] came to believe that it
had transcended such things.

If the above is your considered conclusion about the 27 countries

that make up the EU, and presumably the UK and the four EFTA
states (all of which have defence as their own national competence),
then you probably spent too much time absorbing the group think
that is very much present in the US.
Recommend Reply Share Report

Boulder One 39 MINUTES AGO (Edited)

Epstein Island was like Disneyland for Old Men…………

Which Old Man World Leader was well aware of crimes committed
on Epstein Island?

We all know, which World Leader knew about Epstein Island.

Who killed Jeffry Epstein?

Recommend Reply Share Report

VMD 47 MINUTES AGO

‘More than half of the world’s population, and much of its land area
and military capacity, is in the hands of men…’
Note the other feature all the examples cited have in common.
Perhaps that’s equally to blame for the messes we’re in.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Outsider, or Publici Externus 58 MINUTES AGO

C t
Correct
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Andrew Bevan Lloyd 1 HOUR AGO

Older people tend to have paid off any debt they may have and as
such are more likely to speak their mind as 'free agents' in stark
contrast to the MPs and associated politicians who rack up debt and
perhaps allegiances. In the House of Commons 'specialist mortgage
brokers' proffer, it seems, the possibility of two homes through such
tactics as 'leapfrogging' and a set for life policy despite their short
tenures. After such times, and hopefully re-election, surely a level of
freedom is assured?
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Peter Bradley 1 HOUR AGO

The language and tone of this article is disgraceful.

It is ageist.
Recommend Reply Share Report

T 1 HOUR AGO (Edited)

In reply to Peter Bradley
I found the 75 year old man in the comments!!
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

Pian 2 HOURS AGO

Well I do not buy all this negativity from these comments or Ganesh
about old men’s exploitation. First a necessary declaration. I am one:
mid-eighties actually.
Great piece though Ganesh. You hit some bulls-eyes. But some
severe wobbles too! Think about the advantages of age. You have
frequently seen it all before. You hav’nt seen it all, but you know
what I mean. Or take post-war history. Your own life offers a vivid
benchmark to accept or reject the wisdom of the moment. Things
are going to happen but human nature does not change. So
prevailing wisdom can often be a hallucination others have, and you
don’t. Leaders are the same. Old leaders, assuming their marbles are
in a line, know the lesson of history is that no-one learns the lessons
of history. So if they have a good sense of past perspectives and
humanity they have insights. Some leaders do and some do not have
these insights. Which is why I ignore what some say, and listen
carefully to the other ones. Knowing in which category each falls is
the challenge.
Recommend Reply Share Report
The hyphen 2 HOURS AGO

Disappointed this wasn’t about Rupert.

Recommend 4 Reply Share Report

Hello World 2020 3 HOURS AGO

Thought- provoking and a well argued piece, typical of Janan

Ganesh.!
Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

Lockhart Fulton 3 HOURS AGO

And yet not one of the above will die with half the dignity, respect,
or even global recognition as a man who once bit the head off a bat.
Recommend 4 Reply Share Report

Bob7 3 HOURS AGO (Edited)

Europe, not America, is the great exception. In a world of nation states, it has the

supranational EU. In a world that understands the permanence of violence, it came to

believe that it had transcended such things.

Incorrect. France regularly intervenes in Africa, with violence. Poland

and the Baltics never agreed with our Useful Idiots that Russia had
given up violence, and rightly so. Greece and Turkey remain armed
to the teeth because they are ready to obliterate each other. If you
are one of the people who call Brits Europeans, then you know that
Brits have recently used plenty of violence in Afghanistan, Iraq,
Libya and elsewhere. Only Germany has a complicated issue with
the use of force, because it is the most violent nation in Europe.

To the broader point about old age politicians, it's a coincidence: I

simply do not accept it is more of a factor in our current madness
than a far bigger and more youthful destabilizing force: the internet.
Recommend Reply Share Report

James M Kennedy 3 HOURS AGO

Thoughtful piece. At one level there's certainly the seeming paradox

between the experience and caution that might come with age
counterpointed by the rush to leave a legacy. Then again, it seems
pretty obvious that when people are running out of runway some
will go for broke! A really interesting bit is the opportunity for palace
intrigue as these people reach their natural (or otherwise) end...
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

D 4 HOURS AGO (Edited)

Wrong to draw generalizations -- that's just lazy.

Trump despite his age is executing his promises very well. He

learned a great deal from his first term.

The border that Biden opened has been almost totally closed.
Trump is deporting the illegal aliens, got the budget to do so.

Jews have less to fear from anti-Semitism especially on certain left-

wing college campuses thank to enforcement of Title VI Civil Rights
legislation.
It looks like universities will be accepting more American students
and fewer international students, more like the country was 20 or 30
years ago. It is the US taxpayer that subsidizes these universities
and yet a lower percentage of American are attending our best
schools than 2 or 3 decades ago.

Women are again able to have fair sports competition without

competing against those born male through enforcement of Title IX.

The tariffs have resulted in a great deal of foreign investment in the

US, employing American workers.

He bombed the Iranians -- they didn't even know that our US

bombers were in their airspace. The Iranian know that if they
continue uranium enrichment that they will again bet bombed.

At least NATO countries have promised to spend 5% of GDP on

defense, They may not keep their promise, but it does seem like the
EU/NATO will be spending more for defense not depending on the
US taxpayer.
Oil prices are low. Inflation is low.

But remember, the US has a democracy, at least a President is term

limited. Other countries that don't have term limits it may be a
different matter.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Klirbreyn 3 HOURS AGO

In reply to D
Trump’s America is then heaven according to you. Trouble is
most of the world is repulsed by it, just look at Trump’s
popularity. Octogenarian succeeding octogenarian.
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

Heropass 3 HOURS AGO

In reply to D
 In reply to D
In the first quarter of 2025, foreign direct investment (FDI) in
the United States totaled $52.8 billion, a 34% decrease from
the fourth quarter of 2024. You are equally wrong in your
other proclamations.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

BTB3 5 HOURS AGO

Interestingly, you keep voting them into power! More click bait. Sigh.
Recommend Reply Share Report

Textex 5 HOURS AGO

Netanyahu’s legacy of genocide and extermination of the

Palestinians with Trumps quiet support is a legacy that warrants the
gallows.
Recommend 6 Reply Share Report

Wenren 5 HOURS AGO

The title sounds like something from a fortune cookie.

Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Ludicrum 5 HOURS AGO (Edited)

The old have always found the young annoying and the young have
always found the old annoying.!! Considering that Mr Ganesh looks
on the older side- or at least it won”t be long till he joins them. he”s
doing a good job at trying to be objective!!
Recommend Reply Share Report

Flightless Kiwi 6 HOURS AGO

Old aged leaders don’t represent the main cohort of their voters.
Understandably they want to line the pension pockets of themselves
and friends while a younger generation desperately needs
healthcare and education. They don’t want legacy libraries named
after themselves, just books they can read and learn from.
Recommend Reply Share Report

MarcFinns 6 HOURS AGO

Younger generations will pay the price for the madness of these old
f**ts that should be in elderly care.
Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

Boulder One 51 MINUTES AGO

In reply to MarcFinns
I b li T di
 I believe Trump wears diapers.
Recommend Reply Share Report

Mojito 8 HOURS AGO

Article on Brigitte Macron and Candace Owens is a piece of garbage,

citing both camps as if there was merit to the allegation that Brigitte
is a male and Emanuel a cyborg. This is so ridiculous and below FT’s
standards. Click bait to be generous. A piece of sh.t more fitting.
Leave my comment here since of course FT forbids to do it on site.
Recommend 18 Reply Share Report

LocalManRuinsEverything 8 HOURS AGO

In reply to Mojito
Snore
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

DShwarz 8 HOURS AGO

Hahaha,

Even on the eve of the first world war, now remembered as an era of whiskered decrepits

sending teenagers into hell, the Kaiser was in his mid-fifties.

Recommend Reply Share Report

Not bad.. 8 HOURS AGO

In reply to DShwarz
In the 1920s mid fifties was probably closer to 70 now..
Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

akrish13 8 HOURS AGO

For one thing, old leaders have an incentive to secure a legacy

@Janan: now do one about the legacies left by those youngsters

Blair, Cameron and Merkel
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

LocalManRuinsEverything 8 HOURS AGO

In reply to akrish13
They're living trying to justify their decisions.
Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

Schrodinger'sCat 8 HOURS AGO (Edited)

id i h h i l l d hi f
Biden sure was in a hurry to show up in Israel to lend his support for
genocide.
Followed it with all the weaponry, specially 2000 lb bombs for
hospitals and schools.
A broken pontoon bridge for the other side.
Infants now with the next guy.
We are in the third year of it with all of the West kowtowing.
Hurry, but no brains or care.
It is not an age thing.
It is deeper.
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

CentristbyDesign 8 HOURS AGO

In reply to Schrodinger'sCat
If only Hunter Biden was president...sniff, sniff
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

D 5 HOURS AGO (Edited)

In reply to Schrodinger'sCat
.
Recommend Reply Share Report

regent street 9 HOURS AGO (Edited)

"The unification of mainland China with Taiwan is an example of

such a project. So is avenging the loss of Russia’s prestige and
'strategic depth' after the cold war."

The difference, as always with these comparisons, is that Russia

actually launched a war and China hasn't even shown signs of
actually building up for an attack there, specifically. And it did not
under previous leaders who grew old, either. It's almost as if there
are other variables involved.
Recommend Reply Share Report

MES 9 HOURS AGO

In reply to regent street
China hasn’t shown signs of building up to one? Have you
seen the fleets of bridge barges and landing craft they are
building? And the increased military exercises around
Taiwan? Everyone who chooses to look can see they building
up.
Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

LocalManRuinsEverything 8 HOURS AGO

In reply to MES
 Xi also has said it will be unified by the 100th
anniversary of the ppc... 24 years and counting
Recommend Reply Share Report

DougHuggins 9 HOURS AGO

But perhaps part of the story is that a few old men are striving for a legacy in the time that

is left to them. If so, it follows that things will get worse as their numbered days go by.

I’m not persuaded. US presidents get at most 8 years in office,

regardless of age. Age may well matter for other reasons, but not
because older leaders are “in a hurry” relative to younger ones — at
least not in countries with effective term limits.
Recommend Reply Share Report

MES 9 HOURS AGO

In reply to DougHuggins
In a hurry refers to upcoming death, not time in office, if I
understand your comment correctly. Having term limits would
only increase the sense of urgency I would think, especially in
a man like Trump.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Tablet101 9 HOURS AGO

Love this insight.

Particularly how you view, what legacy older leaders left.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

TANYABGD 9 HOURS AGO

Dear Sir,
What an elegant article!
It still remains puzzling:" while " a few old men are striving for a
legacy..." are younger lions sleeping?
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

CentristbyDesign 8 HOURS AGO

In reply to TANYABGD
The younger lions in the EU are in place to further the
mediocrity their forefathers implemented upon their
respective countries
Recommend Reply Share Report

Ludicrum 5 HOURS AGO (Edited)

 In reply to CentristbyDesign
Ahh - advertoriall was it?!
Recommend Reply Share Report

West Tip 9 HOURS AGO

As always great reading and thought provoking- thank you!

Here is the problem - RED TAPE

Had a 10 minute phone conversation with our “ County Food
Environmental Officer “ this morning. My 17 year old daughter has
spent the last 6 weeks pounding the pavements of nearby large
towns handing out CVs looking for a summer job , as well as
applying for the same jobs online- No such luck!!
A determined young lady and a talented baker , she decided in
recent weeks, when no job was found- she would create her job and
sell her Baked Goods - “ Cookies “ no less locally, through Markets
and Farmshops etc,

Enter RED TAPE

So here we are ; in need of Young Entrepreneurs- the local

environmental officer essentially told me in 10 minutes there was no
point trying to get our Kitchen “ signed off “ - as the criteria required
was to a corporate manufacturing level and we wouldn’t pass!! Don’t
get me started on Labelling laws , along with food safety exams she
will have to take - all for Cookies! 🍪
The long and the short of the story is ;
What do we do ?- Move away from the State and go underground…..
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Mrs Green 9 HOURS AGO (Edited)

Absolutely brilliant! Thanks Janan, you’ll kerp us thinking about this

for the test of the week
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

carevica 9 HOURS AGO

The old voters can be very irrational. I just think about my mom. It is
good that she does not vote. On the other side, the young voters, I
have the impression, they want to be communists.
Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

Hilda 9 HOURS AGO

This is so true. Old politicians don’t have enough skin in the game!!
What do they care if everything goes sideways ? They have nothing
What do they care if everything goes sideways ? They have nothing
to loose . It is a dangerous situation
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

Bringing down the avg age by 40 in the village 10 HOURS AGO

Brilliant article. More on this topic please

Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

Ex Tory 10 HOURS AGO (Edited)

Aged leaders.
Their self confidence grows inversely with their declining physical
and intellectual capabilities
Recommend 4 Reply Share Report

AttemptedOptimist 10 HOURS AGO (Edited)

The increasing age of voters has become a curse. It is easier to take

irrational positions like ‘climate change is not man made’ or ‘the
triple lock is sustainable’ when you will never have to suffer the
consequences.
Recommend 7 Reply Share Report

LocalManRuinsEverything 8 HOURS AGO

In reply to AttemptedOptimist
Capping the voting age at retirement would interesting. If you
work later in life you keep your vote but if you cease to
contribute then you sacrifice your choice in the direction of
the country.
Recommend 5 Reply Share Report

Not bad.. 8 HOURS AGO

In reply to LocalManRuinsEverything
Love that idea, would also include that only salaried
workers can vote so could offload a lot of rentiers in the
process!!
Recommend Reply Share Report

Robertzapatero 10 HOURS AGO

You can’t blame Trump that he was elected despite his age. The
American electorate bears the responsibility. The same goes for
Modi and Ramaphosa and Lula. The problem of aging dictators is
well known in history. Rarely they die in bed as they made too many
enemies in their lifetime. Especially Putin; a sword is hanging over
his head, for sure.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report
 py p

greenthumbednerd 9 HOURS AGO

In reply to Robertzapatero
I feel this is a bit like shaming people who can’t kick a fast
food habit. It’s a big ask for individuals to somehow stand
back and analyse what’s in their best interests when there are
billions of dollars and thousands of hours of research used to
manipulate people. Imposing a very modest budget cap on
political campaigns would be a good approach.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Raguel 10 HOURS AGO

“One of the destabilising forces in the world today is the advanced

age of those who run it.”
Does that include God?
Recommend Reply Share Report

Major Arcana 10 HOURS AGO

In reply to Raguel
He doesn’t run it.Just observes.
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

MES 8 HOURS AGO

In reply to Raguel
God is ageless.
Recommend Reply Share Report

Sopranotyet 10 HOURS AGO

Why didnt the quest for legacy include the 75 year old Bibi?
Recommend 4 Reply Share Report

Schrodinger'sCat 8 HOURS AGO

In reply to Sopranotyet
Shh.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

ChemiLK 10 HOURS AGO

That’s a very sharp observation.

Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Flavia 11 HOURS AGO

But, just occasionally, politically-powerful old men can get it right.

illi l d i i i f i i h l h
William Gladstone was Prime Minister four times in the late 19th
century and - at the end - almost got Home Rule for Ireland passed
in Parliament. (The House of Lords stopped him.) Had he done so,
the 20th century would arguably have been saved a lot of violence
and bitterness.
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

Gene Pool 10 HOURS AGO

In reply to Flavia
The original “old man in a hurry”
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Sensiblequestions 11 HOURS AGO

Imagine a world where, with our current ideas of

childhood/education up to 21, we died at 65.

Would we not actually get on with doing things and enjoying

ourselves more - instead of spending years in miserable old age
waiting to die at some uncertain time from “old age”?
Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

greenthumbednerd 9 HOURS AGO

In reply to Sensiblequestions
It would certainly stop high earners shoving buckets of
money into their pension pots to avoid tax.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Lonely Muks 11 HOURS AGO

Let’s relax a big and watch something light-hearted and fun. Try
Heads of States, available now on Prime.
Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

Sounding_brass 11 HOURS AGO

I do hope the FT is paying the Economist journalist who wrote the

original version of this.
Recommend 4 Reply Share Report

Curious54 11 HOURS AGO

I am an old person. I would hapilly support that noone older than 65

should be elected to any office. And that noone older than 70 should
hold a public office.
Recommend 5 Reply Share Report
 Errata corrige 10 HOURS AGO
In reply to Curious54
That would rule out Churchill who was 70 at the end of the
Second World War.
Recommend Reply Share Report

Summer Breeze 10 HOURS AGO

In reply to Errata corrige
Probably would have been a good idea considering all
Churchill’s ‘isims.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

LongRealThings 11 HOURS AGO

This speaks as much to the ineptitude of anyone to represent

younger voters and balance their interest versus baby boomers!
Recommend Reply Share Report

Fredweis 11 HOURS AGO

Kudos to Carl Godfrey for his slippers on roller skates graphic.

Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

Davidajb 11 HOURS AGO

Agree with Janan Ganesh. I’m sort of happy to be Europeran. The EU

has some young and impressive leaders. Sanchez , (his opposite)
Meloni, Macron , Tusk etc. I’m 75 but I’m happy to believe in
politicians who are 20-30 years younger and wiser than me.
Recommend Reply Share Report

Charles Shillingburg 11 HOURS AGO

Young people tend to be far more impatient and impetuous than

older people, so having younger people in power could make things
more unstable. Blaming local and world affairs on the age of people,
rather than circumstances, individual people, and human nature, is
foolish and superstitious blame seeking.
Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

Lord Womply 11 HOURS AGO

This article makes an observation, which is interesting, but it feels

like something of essence is missing. What will happen? Or what are
the extremes that we may have to deal with? What happens when
the young realize their future is mortgaged away in high deficits by
boomers who lived it up, it usually leads to revolutions to wrest
power from the entrenched.
 Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

Heath 12 HOURS AGO

It is pure mathamatics. Older leaders are a reflection of the median

age of the voter base or population base. The baby boomers are the
largest voter base globally.... and....they vote for someone that looks
and feels like them...aka old men... and (unfortunately) they
don'tvote for a females as generally the boomers grew up in a male
dominated world. The median age of the US senate has gone in step
with the median age of the boomers. Generation X lack voter
numbers while Y and Z have failed to vote However they will be thr
biggest voter base / population base in the next 5 to 10 years (sadly
the boomers will go boom) so mathematics would tell you there is a
high probability that we see a 40 year old female US president. In
countries where there aren't free elections, history would suggest
there is a tipping point based on age demographics.
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Errata corrige 10 HOURS AGO

In reply to Heath
"They don't vote for females". How do you explain the fact
that Mrs Thatcher won three general elections in a row? And
what about Golda Meir, who was born in Ukraine and went on
to be Prime Minister of Israel? And don't forget Indira Gandhi.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Vincent 12 HOURS AGO

Robust and lucid! The columnist is quite generous. I admire his

attempt to look at leadership through the age prism. Things are
more complicated than the age of leaders. An incompetent young
leader is as bad as an incompetent old leader.
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waywardvagabond 12 HOURS AGO

I'm a young person in America who looks to the EU as a place of

stability and sanity right now so please don't go crazy and elect a
bunch of old dictators, thank you.
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Ian T 12 HOURS AGO

Maybe Dignitas has a role to play in ridding the world of these

undesirables (Trump and Brexit gammons).
Recommend Reply Share Report
Creebank 12 HOURS AGO

Maybe it is because young people today are completely feckless

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Direct democrat 12 HOURS AGO

The two points I’d make are 1. that terms of office should be shorter
than they are in non-democracies like Turkey, Venezuela, Belarus,
Iran, Russia and the like, or indeed even in democracies allowing
more than two terms of office. At least the Donald will eventually go,
love him or hate him

2. There should also in a better world than now be functioning

oppositions otherwise the quality of what even a democratically
elected supremo does is unchecked, regardless of length of term. We
know who the crazier and least checked ones are, without needing
to mention their names here, but at least Sir Keir isn’t one of them,
and I’m both thankful for and respectful of that

I do not (finally) agree that Xi is comparable to the likes of Kim, Vlad,

Erdogan and Maduro. He is replaceable and one day will be
replaced, no doubt voluntarily, by a successor carefully chosen by a
functioning government, and there will be predictable continuity
with China, unlike with many other countries. Xi is no emperor or
autocrat. He’s very powerful, but his power is a reflection of China’s
as a whole, and completely aligned to it in my respectful opinion
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Nick.H 12 HOURS AGO (Edited)

At least in America with Trump replacing Biden the age has come
down. Unlikely that’s going to happen in Russia, China or Iran soon.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

waywardvagabond 12 HOURS AGO

In reply to Nick.H
By like two years. He's still the oldest president ever elected.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Nick.H 11 HOURS AGO (Edited)

In reply to waywardvagabond
Yes but there are elections that decide in USA and the
younger generation are chomping on the bit.
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Nom connu de la redaction 12 HOURS AGO

« Old men are dangerous: it doesn't matter to them what is going to
happen to the world. »

George Bernard Shaw

Recommend 6 Reply Share Report

alan campbell 12 HOURS AGO

70 should be the upper limit for elected representatives and judges.

Anything to turn back the gerontocracy.
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HA0403 12 HOURS AGO

weak argument. most of these guys became leaders when much

younger and are only old in power as they are not democracies and
cannot be voted out.
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Bill Johnson 11 HOURS AGO

In reply to HA0403
Very true, and Janan also ignores the effect of being in power
for too long. Even democratically elected - and replaced -
leaders are susceptible to that, and their close associates are
sometimes honest enough to observe that effect.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

WildernessHome 13 HOURS AGO (Edited)

Interesting article. It is strange though, that perhaps the best

example of this was not discussed more - Netanyahu. He clearly has
visions of being remembered as the Lion of Zion or something, that
smote all Israel's enemy's and expanded its boundaries towards the
now openly discussed "Greater Israel. And similarly that personal
vision of greatness has led him to commit this century's worst, most
horrendous crimes. As Netanyahu and his nation have become yet
more extreme, plumbing the depths of what can reasonably be
described as evil, the peoples of the world have gone from being
somewhat supportive of Israel, to utterly and completely opposed.
The daily images of this extremism will hang over Israel and all its
leaders for time immemorial.

One last point is that it is said that Iran took concrete steps to find a
replacement for Khamenei during the recent war, on the assumption
that either the US and/or Israel would assasinate him. So that does
not quite fit the mould
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 Muddling through 12 HOURS AGO
In reply to WildernessHome
The article does mention BN, in the second and ninth
paragraphs.
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WildernessHome 6 HOURS AGO

In reply to Muddling through
Yes, but does not explain how it is that this old geezer if
making some very bad judgements. As I noted, he is
perhaps one of the best examples of what JG was
aiming at, but he chose not to expand on this obvious
example.
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AJS inc. 13 HOURS AGO

I’m not really feeling this one.

I’m pretty sure that there’s very little correlation between political
leaders’ age and whether or not they act drastically in the hope of
leaving a legacy.

It’s an interesting pretence for an article but the conclusion is

illogical.
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MissMarple 13 HOURS AGO (Edited)

The issue is not so much the age of those leaders. It is their

selfishness & the fact they are thoroughly neglecting the younger
generation of active workers who get a raw deal. They ignore the
common good for electoralist purposes. Their age should allow them
- far more than younger leaders desperate to be reelected - to want
to leave a proper legacy & rebalance society in favour of those who
are his future. But they -& much younger leaders- don't. This is the
catastrophe. Greed for power at all costs to society. Demagogy &
selfishness. No sense of higher duty.
But then in today's world sense of duty does not get you reelected.
We have the leaders a majority of the electorate deserve. And they
don't care as they will be dead when the effects of what they voted
for affect their grand children
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Major Arcana 13 HOURS AGO (Edited)

Looking forward to the world run by 16-month old LLMs.

 Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

ft-comments-quora-with-subscription 13 HOURS AGO

Age, which “should” instil caution and restraint in people, quite often emboldens them.

Is it age, or that they have learnt they can get away with appalling
behaviour without consequences?
Recommend 8 Reply Share Report

owen1 13 HOURS AGO (Edited)

In reply to ft-comments-quora-with-subscription
There were consequences for the corruption and arrogance of
legacy US Democratic national leadership. And, all Americans
have to now live with it.
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WildernessHome 12 HOURS AGO

In reply to owen1
The Dems face stiff competition in the corruption
sweepstakes with the Geriatric Oligarch Party, friend
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ft-comments-quora-with-subscription 12 HOURS AGO

In reply to ft-comments-quora-with-subscription
That goes for all of the aging leaders mentioned by Janan I
believe.
Perhaps there is some disagreement here? Feel free to
nominate one of those mentioned in the article that hasn't
behaved appallingly without consequences.
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TomCatGottaScat 13 HOURS AGO

that was a nice snack of a read.

Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

TomCatGottaScat 13 HOURS AGO

In reply to TomCatGottaScat
also, them rollerslippers are silly.
Recommend Reply Share Report

John Smith 13 HOURS AGO

In reply to TomCatGottaScat
Like the putative wearer?
 Like the putative wearer?
Recommend Reply Share Report

NSFW 13 HOURS AGO

Finally, someone has stated the obvious. Boomers are not just
ruining the world with their pensions, but fundamentally because
they are large lucky cohort with perverse incentives.
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Sam Hill 13 HOURS AGO

In reply to NSFW
I'm not a fan of this new tendency of setting one generation
against another. It devides society and makes it weaker.
Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

WildernessHome 12 HOURS AGO

In reply to Sam Hill
and yet us boomers have not left the world in a good
place. If our Grandfathers and Grandmothers were the
greatest generation, perhaps we are the least
generation.
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Brian M 13 HOURS AGO

It's not the age that's the problem, it's the quality. Before the 1980s
the world was also run by old men, but they (mostly) made a much
better job of it.
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Hambo 11 HOURS AGO

In reply to Brian M
They weren’t that old. 50’s and 60’s. Even Churchill was ‘only’
70 in 1944. But he did immense damage to his reputation
insisting on staying on until he was 80. Roosevelt was in his
early 60’s when he died.
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Schillervision 13 HOURS AGO (Edited)

Im not sure how old Stephen Miller is but he seems to be the

architect of the policies that will leave the most lasting scars and by
far the most repugnant. Too bad Ron Varas craptacular books
weren’t enough, now we all get to live through the tariff tax era. Woo
hoo!
R d1 R l Sh R t
 Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

wiley_minogue 13 HOURS AGO

Netanyahu, like Lula, is a retread.

Thought there had been a major slip by the FT editorial dept for a
moment there.
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VasB 13 HOURS AGO

Go back to observations about restaurants and food, you were so

good at it
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M. Polk 14 HOURS AGO

Another great article by Ganesh!

You don't have to agree with him, to enjoy the perspective he brings
out and makes us think.
It is indeed remarkable how many old leaders there are.
In my view a sign that most countries are not true democracies and
the old leaders have consolidated the power around them (see also
Autocracy Inc. by Applebaum).
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DavidfromStoke 14 HOURS AGO

Brilliantly insightful - obvious after it is spelt out - and disturbing.

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Old Azurian 14 HOURS AGO

I feel there are some inconsistencies in the article. For example:

… they won’t have decades of retirement in which to suffer the legal and reputational

penalties of any disastrous act committed in office.

They will, at least potentially, suffer reputational damage even

though they’re dead. Earlier in the article JG makes the argument
that these rulers do want to leave a legacy and care very much
about it.

Similarly, this doesn’t make sense to me:

Who would have guessed that western electorates would turn more anti-establishment as
the median age increased? It was disproportionately the old who brought us Brexit and

Trump.
I don’t agree that those electorates were turning anti-establishment
- or at least that wasn’t their motivation. It was more a yearning for
earlier times, they deemed superior.
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Tazzyjoolz 14 HOURS AGO

The reality is that the old men are following their personal need for
a legacy. In none of these cases has a single one of the old men put
the good of their country to the forefront. Why should they care for
a future they won’t see, so long as their place is cemented, for good
or evil, into history. There should be a global age limit on presidents,
and chairmen, etc. The EU has it right, they want action, innovation
and people with a future in charge.
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WildernessHome 12 HOURS AGO

In reply to Tazzyjoolz
The judgement should be based on ability, vision and
execution for both a thirty year old and an octogenarian. For
Europe we still need to see them grab the reins and start
driving towards a better future, so the jury is out on the
younger ones imo
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Bob, Freelancer 14 HOURS AGO

Good article - we live in interesting times.

Recommend 7 Reply Share Report

city_tory 14 HOURS AGO

A not untypically superficial Ganesh argument - it’s all about

ideology not age. Hitler was 50 when he started WW2 and most of
his government much younger, Mussolini 56, Napoleon was 34 when
he became Emperor. They were all brutal dictators who caused
mayhem at a young age.
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Gunner4life 14 HOURS AGO (Edited)

The article is all waffle with absolutely no substance. Can Janan at

least cite some evidence that younger political leaders perform
better? As he points out himself, Hitler was not exactly old. Meloni
and Truss have not covered themselves in glory. With Trump we
have the benefit of his having been a public figure at least two
decades. Is Janan suggesting the younger showbiz version of Trump
would have been a better leader?
On the evidence of this article, one is tempted to say that younger
journalists have no substance and we should try out some 70 year
olds instead.
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city_tory 14 HOURS AGO

In reply to Gunner4life
Agree Janan is a master of the superficial
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Osco50 13 HOURS AGO

In reply to city_tory
Well he certainly knows how to get people talking
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WCG 14 HOURS AGO

in 1989, i believe every communist country except the USSR itself

was led by a 80 something. and Gorby only led because Andropov
didn't live longer. they all made their beds and died in them, pretty
much.
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Richter 14 HOURS AGO

It's hard to disaggregate the effect of age specifically, but it does

seem like most the old leaders you listed have gotten more extreme
over time, rather than moderated. I think there's something to your
theory.
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CanadianReader 14 HOURS AGO

Where are all the young people? They are stronger, brighter, and
have more energy. They should be running the show. Why aren't
they?
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WildernessHome 12 HOURS AGO

In reply to CanadianReader
Struggling to make a living wage probably.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Kevin Carpenter 14 HOURS AGO

Sadly, many of these leaders of advanced aged haven't yet grown

up.
 Recommend 4 Reply Share Report

likeswesternculture 14 HOURS AGO

A thought-provoking article, but I disagree more than I agree. First

of all, rule by old men is nothing new. China has been run by old men
ever since the latter part of Mao’s life. The Soviet Union was run by
old men for the latter Brezhnev years until Gorbachev’s brief tenure.
The United States was run by the youthful Barack Obama and
George W. Bush for 16 years. I don’t think either did a good job. Putin
was quite young when he came to power and I would argue that this
has been part of the problem, in view of his long tenure. And in my
opinion the foolish NATO expansion into former Soviet territory,
engineered by the youthful Bush and Clinton, is the primary reason
for the current most dangerous conflict. There are a variety of
reasons why the world order has become unstable, but I think aged
leaders are a minor factor.
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Adrian_Nantwich 14 HOURS AGO (Edited)

In reply to likeswesternculture
There is no evidence I can observe that the age of US
presidents is trending upwards. However, I am willing to
change my mind.
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Osco50 13 HOURS AGO

In reply to Adrian_Nantwich
Since when, 2016?

Bill Clinton was 46 when he became president, GW Bush

was 54, Obama was 47. A little further back as
mentioned, Reagan was 69 which seemed awfully old at
the time. Jimmy Carter was 52, Nixon 56, Ford 61,
Kennedy 43 and Eisenhower 62.

The median age of all US president upon first gaining

office is 55.

The youngest was Teddy Rosevelt at 42 and the oldest

is Joe Biden at 78 (Trump is now 79)..
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Adrian_Nantwich 12 HOURS AGO

In reply to Osco50
William Henry Harrison (68) and James Buchanan
 (65). Shouldn't age be adjusted by life
expectancy?
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Spartakus 14 HOURS AGO

One generational shift to consider..

Trump famously said he didn’t change diapers and if dinner wasn’t
on the table when he got home there would be hell to pay. Lack of
parental caregiving (or care for the wellbeing of one’s wife) was the
norm for his generation.
Younger male politicians, even conservatives, are far more involved
parents, some going as far as to stake their political raison d'être on
being caring fathers — JD Vance being an obvious example. And it
is hard to imagine Vance saying if Ushma didn’t have dinner on the
table…
My point is today’s old men will not be tomorrow’s old men.

Hopefully.
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Gunner4life 13 HOURS AGO

In reply to Spartakus
You wish
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Spartakus 13 HOURS AGO (Edited)

In reply to Gunner4life
So.. men are incapable of evolving enough to see value
in personally caring for their offspring?

Misandrist!
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Clowns to the left Jokers to the right 14 HOURS AGO

Quite. If you’re not going to be around for the consequences of your

(in)actions, you shouldn’t be creating them.
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Paty 14 HOURS AGO

This was a funny headliner notification that popped up and made

me laugh. But reading the article, I started to think about what's
happened. I think about previous leaders who got exposed to a lot
of global volatility whilst European leaders like Keir starmer went to
school then got a job and then wanted to get in politics. The drivers
of change were different.

I also think about who we as citizen might want from leaders and
think about someone with different exposures or experience this
comes with age.

Several outliers today clearly (Zelensky) but it certainly does appear

everyone is in a hurry.
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A Terran 14 HOURS AGO (Edited)

Excellent. Starting to look at human totality.

There is a Mirror (See Barbara Tuckman) in Europe around 1400

when the majority of Princes, Kings, Dukes, Counts, and Cardinals
were under 25 years old. many under 21. Chaos.
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GrumpyToad 14 HOURS AGO

My unpopular opinion includes placing age restrictions on leading

roles. Somewhere between 45-55, where cognitive decline becomes
noticeable.
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Adrian_Nantwich 14 HOURS AGO

In reply to GrumpyToad
You really are a Grumpy Toad.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

GrumpyToad 14 HOURS AGO

In reply to Adrian_Nantwich
Ribbit
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Bitter_sweet 14 HOURS AGO

"Even on the eve of the first world war, now remembered as an era
of whiskered decrepits sending teenagers into hell..."

I'd argue that today's whiskered decrepits are doing the same thing,
only on a smaller scale militarily and a larger scale socially and
environmentally.
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Neil of Essex 14 HOURS AGO

 Neil of Essex 14 HOURS AGO
In reply to Bitter_sweet
I would suggest that World War is on a completely different
scale, on all levels. The consequences of a WW3 would
obviously be apocalyptic. That really could be 'the war to end
all wars' but not in the way those brave souls who did the
fighting in 1914-1918 would have hoped for. 🕊
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Adrian_Nantwich 14 HOURS AGO

Javier Milei is 55 years old and Giorgia Meloni is 48 and Mark Carney
is 60.

For a bit of fun, plot the age of the country's leader against an array
of country specific indicators. Size does not matter but countries
with a relatively higher level of democracy tend to have younger
leaders. North Korea being an outlier.
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Strategery 14 HOURS AGO (Edited)

The real question for democracies is: why are there widely accepted
mandatory vocational retirements for lesser responsibilities at ages
55, 60, and 65, and not the same or similar for those to be entrusted
with nuclear codes? What is the basis of the exception? Surely,
what's good for the goose must also be good for the gander?
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Peter M 14 HOURS AGO

I don’t think we need to bring the voting age down to 16, but there is
certainly a case to impose a maximum voting age. Perhaps the trade
off for a state pension?
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Adrian_Nantwich 14 HOURS AGO

In reply to Peter M
I've changed my opinion about bringing the voting age down
to 16, I support it now. Although politics involves far more
than voting I think it's one route of renewing democracy.

Be careful what you wish for. After age, then an education

and income criteria.
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xxzz76 14 HOURS AGO

In reply to Peter M
 Disenfranchise the over 65's?
Absurd.
Maybe cranking up the creaky electoral registrarion system is
the answer - so the young are automatically registered?
Why not compulsory residence (etc etc.) registrarion within
two weeks of moving in to a new domicile?
Works like a charm in Germany...
Strongly discourages illegal immigrants/illegal visa
overstayers too.
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Boulder One 14 HOURS AGO

In reply to xxzz76
Well, how about an Alzheimer’s test?
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Josho 14 HOURS AGO (Edited)

In reply to xxzz76

Disenfranchise the over 65's?

Absurd.

No representation without taxation?

Maybe offer the choice: benefits without means testing

or the vote, but not both.
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Peter M 14 HOURS AGO

In reply to xxzz76
Not all over 65’s, just those who choose to take the state
pension.
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Paul Thind 15 HOURS AGO (Edited)

Everyone talks about leaders wanting legacies. I put it to you that

they don't care. Politicians are not in power to make a difference to
improve lives. They are in power with a view to retaining power and
getting rich from it, one way or another during or after their political
life. We live in an extremely selfish world. They are all playing
political games. The world can go to hell for all they care.
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Squirrelontheroof 14 HOURS AGO

In reply to Paul Thind
 You assume that legacy necessarily means something good to
the society. That doesn't have to be the case. It may be a very
selfish, narcistic legacy of being the richest, most powerful at
all cost or whatever one defines as their personal legacy.
Putin, Trump and others mentioned in the article seem to
prove this point.
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PriyankaPri-Pri 15 HOURS AGO

Look at UK - younger leaders have done more harm. UK is in crisis

thanks to young inexperienced leaders.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Paul Thind 15 HOURS AGO

In reply to PriyankaPri-Pri
UK would be in a crisis no matter who was in control. Way too
much has been wrong for way too long. The society needs
restructuring.
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Squirrelontheroof 14 HOURS AGO

In reply to PriyankaPri-Pri
BoJo would be flattered, but come on..
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

xxzz76 14 HOURS AGO

In reply to PriyankaPri-Pri
Inexperienced, clueless, patrician Old Etonians you mean.
David Cameron being the prime example.
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Chalk and cheese 15 HOURS AGO

If the voting age was capped at 70 our polities might be healthier.

Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

US mortgage-investor 15 HOURS AGO

In reply to Chalk and cheese
Better if only taxpayers, and former taxpayers, had the vote.
People who contribute nothing should have no say in the
running of any country.
Recommend Reply Share Report

xxzz76 14 HOURS AGO

In repl to US i
 In reply to US mortgage-investor
Everyone is a taxpayer in the UK - who can avoid VAT?
Conversely many UK income tax payers are denied the
vote.
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diplomatChanakya 15 HOURS AGO

This article suffers from something called "ageism".

Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

PriyankaPri-Pri 15 HOURS AGO

In reply to diplomatChanakya
fully agree
Recommend Reply Share Report

North End Road 14 HOURS AGO

In reply to diplomatChanakya
I want to agree (i'm 59 after all) but sort of can't !!! The idea
that we change as we age is reasonable. The idea that we sort
of peak before a hopefully gentle wind down to somewhere
else seems reasonable too. Everyone is different and some
people retain awesome mental faculty even as they avoid the
rugby pitch or other physical activity as they age - but not all
...... and the idea that some of those named above have moved
past their peak into let's call it "worrisome behaviour" is a
perspective I would agree with. Now of course if electorates
wish to elect them then whom am I to doubt but many of the
leaders above have started younger and merely held on.
I don't think this discussion should stop with a shout of ageist.
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Bitter_sweet 14 HOURS AGO

In reply to diplomatChanakya
Or, you know, realism. I love my 83-year-old mother but no
way in hell I'd want her running the country.
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Working EU 15 HOURS AGO

Could also be: "Après-moi, le déluge":

i.e. If upside, the glory, if downside, who cares?

Could also be they aren't actors, but puppets:

i.e. Creatures of the systems that produce them?
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rabblerouser 15 HOURS AGO

Ageism
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Paul Thind 14 HOURS AGO

In reply to rabblerouser
Not sure if young farts will make a different noise.
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NicoleP 15 HOURS AGO

World run by old farts…

Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

HardTruth 15 HOURS AGO

In reply to NicoleP
They are more capable than me and You.
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Bitter_sweet 14 HOURS AGO

In reply to HardTruth
If by "capable" you mean "rapidly steering the world into
the ditch," then yes.
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trade warrior 15 HOURS AGO

Young leaders have destabilising incentives owing to their eye on

the speaking circuit, corporate boardroom, "consultancy" and
position with the UN, EU, IMF et al.
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katkatkatkat 15 HOURS AGO

also most of these politicians are ANGRY old men

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From Singapore 15 HOURS AGO

Wise and true. Sad though.

Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

No Comment Blackstone 15 HOURS AGO

Paul Von Hindenburg was in his 80s. What could possibly go wrong?
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King of Wines 15 HOURS AGO

“To explain the disorder of the modern world, it is far more

intellectually proper to cite economic trends and grand historical
forces.”

Indeed it is. So maybe stick to that. The argument about leaving a

mark is speculation at best. I am more worried about them still
having a driver’s license. JG’s opinion peaces are rather hit and miss,
but I think that is understandable if you have to churn them out
weekly. I loved his recent one on the reasons behind low birth rates.
That one was spot on.
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Virginia Patriot! 15 HOURS AGO

There is the FT at it again, SPINNING, EXAGGERATING and at times

JUST MAKING IT UP to attract attention.

Maybe the BIG THREE OLDIES are out to secure some form of a
legacy, and if true I can then rightfully say the BIG EURO
YOUNGLINGS (eg warmonger KALLAS and boy-toy MACARONI) are
purely out to Save their own A…

Nobody cares.

MAGA
👊🇺🇸🔥
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

AvK12 15 HOURS AGO

In reply to Virginia Patriot!
Is this a joke account or potus? The use of capital letters
puzzles me
Recommend 10 Reply Share Report

TRenny 15 HOURS AGO

In reply to Virginia Patriot!
WHY ARE YOU USING CAPITALS?
I find the FT does not spin or exaggerate. Or put random
capital-lettered words in for no apparent reason.
Recommend 8 Reply Share Report

butterfly antennae 12 HOURS AGO

In reply to Virginia Patriot!
Oh dear, patriot, honey, you need to stop supporting that
 Oh dear, patriot, honey, you need to stop supporting that
perverted old man in the white house and find someone new.
You know, a lot of people do care and it is so obvious the old
guy is getting very stressed. Perhaps his swollen legs will
explode and then the truth will be revealed. I hear he is a
really bad guy, bigly bad. A lot of people are saying it.
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Molf 15 HOURS AGO

well written piece..

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Stefan L. 16 HOURS AGO

No convincing analysis, there are many arguments for why older

leaders can be very effective -think about it, for example Konrad
Adenauer and de Gaulle, George Washington or Deng Xiaoping.
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Kestrell2 16 HOURS AGO

This is an important thought article by GJ.

No country should permit elected nor unelected leaders to exceed
the age of 74. When UK and American investment bankers are
tipped out of their employment around the age of 55, leaders aged
75 and counting are almost automatically out of tune with their
electors and with the rest of the world at large. I know. I am a mere
85.
Those current leaders aged around 75 showing world TV audiences
the destruction they are causing - Netanjahu in Palestinian Gaza;
Putin in the Ukraine; Trump with deportations to cruel El Salvador
and vengeful tariffs on third-world countries; Xi with ethnic
conversion of China's NorthWest regions and threats to Taiwanese;
Burma's routing of minorities to Bangladesh; Bolsonaro's failed coup
in Brazil; an oaf in Venezuela and an Un tyrant in North Korea are
but samples of GJ's reason to point out old bad apples in our midsts.
As he alluded, these arrogant oldies are dangerous because time is
running out on them to show the world what they have achieved by
fair means. They're all foul, and should be dealt with by the fair
among us b before they run rampant out of senility and due to
failure.
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Smartpantz 16 HOURS AGO

The issue isn't the age of global 'leaders,' but rather that many of
them aren't true leaders, they're technocrats easily influenced by the
wealthy elite.
 Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

Heaven knows I'm miserable now 16 HOURS AGO (Edited)

These old men are substituting their loss of muscle mass, brain cells,
lung capacity and ability to procreate by starting wars, attacking
innocent people and shouting loudly.
My granddad compensated for his declining powers by growing
vegetables in his allotment.
Why can't Trump, Putin, Netanyahu, Erdogan, Orban et al do the
same as my granddad and give us all a break ?
Recommend 31 Reply Share Report

Neil at home 15 HOURS AGO

In reply to Heaven knows I'm miserable now
Amen to that, just leave the young alone, they dont need the
elderly to help, thanks.
It suggests the aged leaders feel inadequate and have to
prove something or maybe cant come to terms with the fact
they are in their last years?
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doink 15 HOURS AGO

In reply to Heaven knows I'm miserable now
Not quite sure why these evil old sods are enabled to wreak
such chaos. Surely well over time to reorganise how the world
is 'run'.
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Schrodinger'sCat 16 HOURS AGO

With Macron as shining light supporting Gaza evisceration, there is

nothing to fear.
Old or young.
Same machinations.
Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

Kestrell2 16 HOURS AGO

In reply to Schrodinger'sCat
... ? ... Macron ?
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Frank 123 16 HOURS AGO

Glib generalisations as usual from Ganesh. Trump and Netanyahu

are genuine fascists in the mould of the 1930s tyrants,
brazen enough to support or implement genocide in plain sight.
None of the others, many of whom are 'strongmen' in terms of
authoritarianism, are close in vileness. This difference is far more
significant than age similarity.
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Kestrell2 15 HOURS AGO (Edited)

In reply to Frank 123
The Burmese Army is not close to Netanjahu's IDF in their
ethnic cleansing horror show?
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Quis ut deus 16 HOURS AGO

„Even on the eve of the first world war, now remembered as an era
of whiskered decrepits sending teenagers into hell, the Kaiser was in
his mid-fifties.“

You could argue he was considered old, given life expectancy was
sub-60 at the time.
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Midas 15 HOURS AGO

In reply to Quis ut deus
It was closer to 70s when you strip out the early infant
mortality.
Recommend Reply Share Report

Trundler 16 HOURS AGO

Interesting ideas, well argued; but counter-arguments also spring to

mind. Trump has long urged high tariffs and realised the only way to
make progress was to "get on with it".
In the UK, Thatcher wasn't old but was in a hurry; Blair, too. As
interesting as old men in a hurry might be whether governments
need to show greater urgency and clarity in dealing with problems,
such as the NHS, energy, water and education in the UK.
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Ettubrute 16 HOURS AGO

The problem is the old men just cannot let go. They hang on and
hang on as if to leave voluntarily will be to die. They imagine
because they are old in years, they are rich in knowledge or
experience. They imagine that because of their longevity, they have
the right to dictate to others how to live their lives. Old fathers
cannot let go of giving their sons "good" advice. (I know because I
am nearly 81 and have three sons - all of whom are middle aged,
fully adult and successful in their own lives). Old business
industrialists cannot let go of the illusion that only they know how to
run their enterprise. Alas - as I discover from my own experience -
my knowledge, life experience, fatherly advice, is irrelevant. It
doesn't help my sons and they resent it. The reality is, they know
more about their world and their work as it is today - a world which
is not the world of my youth. The cling-on leaders are no different.
Too young, and a leader is arrogant. Too old and the leader is deaf.
The real trick of leadership - and I fail to see it evidenced in today's
leaders - is to listen, think, adjust, reflect, delegate, admit failure,
praise success, take on board the broad range of advisors at one's
disposal and determine harmoniously. It's the hardest thing to do in
the whole of life. My message to the world's leaders, clinging to the
rock face - is let go. Float free.
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TRenny 15 HOURS AGO

In reply to Ettubrute
A lovely and honest summary - thank you for sharing.
If only these old egotists would heed your advice...
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Gunner4life 14 HOURS AGO

In reply to Ettubrute
Fully agree with the leadership traits you identify, but fail to
see the correlation with age and/or any causation. Do 25 year
olds exhibit those traits better than 75 year olds?
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IndigoIndustrial 12 HOURS AGO

In reply to Gunner4life
The loss of authority is too much for some people to
bear.
The year before you retire, you can be a Professor, CEO
or senior consultant who has dozens of people listening
intently and agreeing with you as you admonish them.
A year after you retire, they'll interrupt you if try telling
them what to do or politely listen then ignore you.
The key is not get your serotonin from people paying
attention to you, but retire and do whatever you want
e.g. plant a corn-field in your backyard.
🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽👨‍🌾🌽🌽🌽🌽🎃🌽🌽
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The Normal Distribution 12 HOURS AGO

I l t
 In reply to Ettubrute
“They hang on and hang on as if to leave voluntarily will be to
die.”

Lovely comment - it is fair to say though that the above

assertion may in fact be true for quite a few of the strongmen
in power today (one may use die /get locked up/ …
interchangeably). A retired putin sitting out his last years
fishing, riding horses (bare chested of course), and judo’ing
other grandpa’s in peace and safety seems rather unlikely 😅
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lolling upon sopha 10 HOURS AGO

In reply to Ettubrute
Your three sons should be listening. And maybe they are, in
their own way. Great reflections, thanks.
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The Flying Dutchman 5 HOURS AGO

In reply to Ettubrute
I really liked your comment and would have liked to
recommend it more than one time (some platforms allow
this).

My two cents are that the onus and responsibility of helping

the young is with the old. We have more experience and -
supposedly - wisdom. They have the energy, a better grasp of
the present and more time is ahead of them than behind. If
we can find a way to help them to be better persons than we
were and do better than we did, it would do wonders for the
world and it's a lot we can aspire to.

Your points about leadership are spot on on what older

people need to do to be effective at this.

I suspect that the stakes and incentives for politicians and top
executives are too powerful to overcome in most cases. This
begs the question if we should we limit the extraordinary
upside of such incentives, to encourage more timely
transitions.

It would also help mitigate the increasing inequality, to boot.

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Eclecticviews 16 HOURS AGO

It seems that age confers isdom b t also a certain liberation

 It seems that age confers wisdom, but also a certain liberation

In some leaders, however, it seems to foster a curious tendency, a

longing to recast the past in golden hues and summon its return.

The clash between romanticised nostalgia and the current reality is

playing out all around us.
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Efialtes of the high seas 16 HOURS AGO

Also the Liberal ideal means that there are now far fewer negative
consequences for their families, or 'houses'.
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undecided 16 HOURS AGO

You speak of years in retirement when consequences catch up with

misdeeds. You speak of superior Western processes. But then one
looks at Tony Blair's post-PM years, and realises that it's all
nonsense.
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Baklava 16 HOURS AGO (Edited)

They should be sitting in a pub exchanging anecdotes not playing

with people's life.
I know of local old man with same grandiose ideas, you don't listen
to them, you tell them here is pint on me mate, have a good day!
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Cwa 16 HOURS AGO (Edited)

Couldn’t agree more that the violence is driven by a particular group

of older people looking back to a previous era. But it’s not a matter
of age either.
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TRenny 15 HOURS AGO

In reply to Cwa
Not older people - older Men.
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nautiusmaximus 16 HOURS AGO

"robust and lucid" lols

Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

(Edited)
Triple bee plus 16 HOURS AGO (Edited)

Gotta love the comments section. By now it even drives the subjects
on which the articles are commissioned.

Old men boo! Yes so say we all, boo!

Pathetic lack of depth and zero creativity.

Leaders have almost always been older men. Try to analyse the why
of that!
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Sudaz 16 HOURS AGO

How do the historical trends look of you correct for changes in life
expectancy?
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Accuqui 17 HOURS AGO

Best writer at the FT in my opinion.

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Thomas Rainsborough 16 HOURS AGO

In reply to Accuqui
Yep. With Stuart Kirk. By miles.
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Ngaio71 17 HOURS AGO

I heard a quote last week and this article reminds me so much of it -

"War, is basically old men sending young men in to die for the sake
of redrawing a few lines on a map".
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Aspen4 16 HOURS AGO

In reply to Ngaio71
its a misunderstanding of the nature of war at a level though
is it not. War is about bargaining frictions and that lead to
divergent expectations about outcomes which have not been
resolved or which cannot be resolved through negotiation
alone until more information is presented that resolves the
friction. Frequently that more information is revealed on
battle fields. Hiter was not insanely old for example. It would
be more accurate to say typically older men sending younger
men to die over lines on maps because they disagreed on the
outcome of sending young men to die and both think there
version better
 version better.
Recommend Reply Share Report

0RK 17 HOURS AGO

Interesting approach. My main issue is actually their physical and

mental capacity. As an executive I came to the conclusion that it is
not enough to have the required inteligence and drive to run a
department, company and/or country but you need a very solid
mental and physical fitness.
Of course, theory says that delegation is the key to everything, but
those who drink fire on a day by day basis know that reality is
different.
To take a trans-atlantic flight, sit through 1,2 day meetings, dinner,
bi-laterals, briefings, scheeming, fly back - and return to high
pressure day to day issues will put a physical and mental strain even
on a 40-50y old physically and mentally well trained person. Let
alone on a 70-80y person.
What I am trying to say, I cannot imagine that they give everything
or are in a position to give everything which is required on such a
demanding job as head of states. Hence the stupid things they are
doing.
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noop 16 HOURS AGO (Edited)

In reply to 0RK
Trump spends roughly one day out of every five and a half
playing golf. Other US Presidents have also spent quite a bit
of time on the course.
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Viva Vulpus 15 HOURS AGO

In reply to 0RK
Flying (unnecessary), five different forms of sitting in a
meeting which you could do from your home... having dinner.
Dinner, really.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Realist 42 MINUTES AGO

In reply to 0RK
What about the very stupid things the relatively young
President Bush and PM Blair did?
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Show More Replies

Man is Spirit 17 HOURS AGO (Edited)

Man is Spirit 17 HOURS AGO (Edited)

The succession plan for Putin or Xi is what they have unintentionally

sown through years of exercising dictatorial power: Revolution!
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pseudoname 17 HOURS AGO

Nature came up with a solution to this problem - a highly virulent

novel pathogen which was exclusively deadly to the old.

The response was to place everybody under house arrest regardless

of their vulnerability and turn the money printers to full blast,
trashing our currencies and creating wild inflation.

Let's face it, take the ethics of letting millions die out of the question
- on a purely mechanical, robotic, economic perspective: We
should've let vast swathes of boomers die out from covid to let our
societies benefit from the wealth transfer that would've occurred.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

VictorKahn 17 HOURS AGO

Well we had Cameron, Sunak, Johnson, Truss. Fine load of good it

did us.

Age isn’t the issue, it’s whether they put their nations first or foreign
oligarchs and settler colonies.
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Kieran 17 HOURS AGO

The problem with these guys is not that they're old but that they've
clung on to power for too long.
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Forward 17 HOURS AGO

Very true for Taiwan. At the mercy of the whims of an aging,

delusional leader (Xi) like Ukraine was/is (Putin).
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Amenhotep II 17 HOURS AGO

Hospital Mubarak governed for an eternity and was grooming his

incompetent son Gamal to take over the reigns. A pharonic dynasty.
The military stepped in to serve its own interests perceived to be
threatened by promises of economic liberalisation. Find the groups
most threatened by the sovereigns plan and you will find the
consequences of their rule lasting too long.
 Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Amenhotep II 15 HOURS AGO

In reply to Amenhotep II
*Hosni. Apologies for the autocorrect.
Recommend Reply Share Report

Anon300 17 HOURS AGO

Perhaps it's not the tick of the clock but the simple fact that they're
old that makes them bigger a$$es than they would otherwise be:

From: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10487866/
"In a review concerning the psychological and neural mechanisms of
empathy in aging, it emerged that older adults have lower cognitive
empathy (to understand others’ thoughts and feelings)... This aligns
with reduced activity in a critical brain area..."
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Coyote 17 HOURS AGO

Après moi, le déluge.

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Mukaranga II 17 HOURS AGO

You should have mentioned Paul Biya, of Cameroon, 92 years young.

Of course, if you deemed him a non-entity in world leadership, I
would totally agree with the assessment as well.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

omh 17 HOURS AGO

Another reason to lower the voting age.

The US should institute a retirement age for all government offices
including the presidency of 75
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Jugband 17 HOURS AGO

Well said.
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regular visitor 17 HOURS AGO

'Correct me if I am wrong, but I can't think of another point in history

when so many world leaders were reaching old age at the same
time.' Try at the end of WW2 when there were only 3 world leaders
of note. One was a septuagenarian and the other two in their sixties.
70 h lik 80 Th f h h di fi
70 then was like 80 now. The youngster of the three was to die first.
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Hairy Potty 17 HOURS AGO

Couldn’t agree more, these old men are more concerned with their
legacy’s (particularly war) than the welfare and best interests of the
people they are supposed to represent, time for a new generation of
leaders.
Recommend Reply Share Report

Paperclip 17 HOURS AGO

The problem is the wrong old man get into power and then want to
stay there too long..
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

O.J. 17 HOURS AGO

hear hear.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Dr Strangelove 17 HOURS AGO

Whilst the world is run by old men in a hurry, the world is managed
by sociopaths with spreadsheets and gilets.
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Luigi M. 17 HOURS AGO

Fascinating article. That said, I think age needs to be viewed

through a historical lens. If, as noted, the German Kaiser was around
50 in 1914, we should also remember that male life expectancy in
Germany at the time was barely 45. Today, it’s closer to 79.
Comparing the age of a modern leader to that of a leader a century
ago is a bit like comparing a steam engine to a Tesla.

A 70-year-old in 2025 is not only physically healthier, but often far

more mentally sharp and active than his early 20th-century
counterpart. The real concern, then, shouldn't be age per se — but
rather the lack of transparency and built-in succession mechanisms
in certain political systems. That’s where things can really start to
creak.

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Demostene 18 HOURS AGO

In order to maximise the chance that your Country will find a way for
thriving, surviving or at least not succumbing In the tough current
international environment you probably need appointing a very
strong leader able to use the relative “power” of your Country in the
more dynamic and efficient way is possible.
Most probably you will end appointing a relatively old man with long
term experience in politics and tough negotiation (that, in this
environment, is a form of fighting).
This is the Law of the Jungle and you need of an Greyback Alpha
man
But if you leave in a Country that have gave up part of its
Sovereignty (external commerce, currency, etc) to a superior Body
(as is the case for the Countries belonging to EU), you are
incentivised selecting younger (possibly even women) leaders that
could appear as being to be less adapt for navigating the harsh
environment of international “real politic” but looks to be much more
fit to take care of the remaining “softer” tasks (economy, welfare,
social stability, etc) as well as to “listening” to the ever changing
aims of their citizens These softer tasks, notwithstanding being
those that are allowing a society to become more resilient and
stable, are usually deprioritised by the old Alpha men seeking for
asserting their future legacy
Recommend Reply Share Report

Boulder One 18 HOURS AGO (Edited)

Well, if anything, the article does point to the most pressing

question in the world today.

And that question is………..

“Who killed Jeffry Epstein?”

Was it an already old and rapidly aging, Elite Real Estate developer
from New York City, who is eager to cement his legacy as a rogue
elite leader, who disrupts the Existing World Order?

Just as the clock is rapidly ticking on Xi’s need to invade Taiwan or

Putin’s need to restore the Former “Glories” of the Great Russian
Empire, perhaps that same clock is also ticking on Trump’s need to
install himself as the Great 666 “AntiChrist!”

Will British Crown disown Trump this next week if it becomes clear
that he knew about criminal child molestation on Epstein Island???

The Plot Thickens !!!!!

There really is only one news story in the whole world today.
Who killed Jeffry Epstein?
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Boulder One 17 HOURS AGO

In reply to Boulder One
Was it an old man?
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A.Steptoe 18 HOURS AGO

Latest suggests the old men and in turn the world is run by Epstein,
or his ghost at least…
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

SingularSteve 18 HOURS AGO

Nice piece by Janan. There's also an informative and witty video on

this by Patrick Boyle, if anyone wishes a follow-up.
Recommend 4 Reply Share Report

Offthehousingladder 18 HOURS AGO

Janan is due a holiday. This age trope is tiresome and i daresay any
competent LLM Ai programme could crank this out although
without JG's trademark flair.
Still a ridiculous premise.
We in Britain have just suffered through the worst 15 years since the
war led by people who are only just turning 60 and were in their 40s
and 50s when they did the damage. While Trump blunders about, his
dirty work is done by the appalling Stephen Miller, JD Vance and the
assorted tech lords (I am mindful of the bot who minds comments so
I'm restraining my language) like Musk and Thiel none of them is 60.
And for the record I am in my 8th decade and read Martin Wolf AND
Martin Sandbu with equal pleasure. Age has nothing to do with
anything
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Kenneth Kohlrabi 7 HOURS AGO

In reply to Offthehousingladder
Until the last line you made sense.
Age has so much to do with absolutely everything. If you are
not today a fundamentally different person to when you were
in your twenties, you’re doing something wrong.
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FT Reader112 18 HOURS AGO

Also then maybe time to update this with another phase of life 'If a
Also then maybe time to update this with another phase of life If a
man is not a socialist by the time he is 20, he has no heart. If he is
not a conservative by the time he is 40, he has no brain.”
Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

LongLiveGlobalism 18 HOURS AGO

Some of the countries are democracies. It’s not old age but rather
the flood of misinformation and the short attention spans in the age
of the smartphone that is the cause of all our malaise. People of all
ages aren’t thinking straight,
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Perpetually confused 18 HOURS AGO

"having to replace calcified regimes at the same time." - so

beautifully written.

Interesting, but I do wonder if this is really about age. Is it

correlation or causation that older leaders today are acting more for
legacy and in an unchecked manner?

The article's premise is 'these leaders are older and have limited
time left' and therefore 'they want to leave a legacy' which may
means big bold decisive moves that could be good or bad for
billions.

I'd hypothesis (albeit with no factual research as yet) that there

could also be a few more steps to explain this and therefore this is
merely correlation not causation;

1. New premise - leaders with limited checks on their power always

pursue ambitions of glory, legacy, nationalism, altruism (regardless
of their age). Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Nero, Ceasar,
Napoleon, Lenin, Trotsky, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pot, and even Putin &
Jinping all consolidated power and pursued their big goals and
"achievements" somwhere between their 20s-60s. - they were not
old men and yet their legacies shaped or could shape the world for
centuries.
2. New premise - countries that have ageing populations (who are
more active voters) have preferred older candidates who message a
sense of conservatism and "the way things used to be" - therefore
we have more older, elected leaders today than before. (leaders with
limited democratic process to vote them out grow old and stay in
power anyway).
3. New premise - there are several major countries today that have
not had democractic process for many decades and others are
seeing erosion of democratic institutions to put it politely.
4. Therefore, we have more countries today where their are reduced
 y
democratic checks and balances and we seem to have older leaders
in these countries. Coming back to point 1, these leaders will, as is
probably human nature, pursue glory and legacy and grand projects.

Europe's maintenance of democracy limits legacy seekers and Modi

is an exception to the abov
Recommend Reply Share Report

Sam 18 HOURS AGO (Edited)

Weak linkage Janan. The problem is Russia, Turkey, China and Iran.
They don't have a well laid out process of handing over the baton of
leadership.
India, Brazil, South Africa, Israel have well laid procedures for
handing over leadership within the country and they have history on
their side.
Putin has got hung-up over Ukraine, and therefore he will never be
considered a great leader. Had he ordered ceasefire after taking the
Russian speaking land, West would have made peace. Ukraine
should propose permanent unconditional cease fire, if they have
common sense.
As the technology is changing so fast, by 2050 mankind would be
establishing colonies in the Solar system especially the asteroid
belt, mars, moon and Europa.
I am very excited and can visualize the following by 2040:

Energy will become cheap and abundant as energy storage

issue is solved, and
Mankind would be establishing colonies in space.

It would look rather foolish to fight and die in the silly wars of 2020s
when the whole Solar system would be opening up by 2050.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Slightly less than thoughtful 18 HOURS AGO (Edited)

In reply to Sam
I applaud your optimistic timelines, but why do you think that
we will have colonies in space by 2050? Which organisations
are working towards this goal?
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Sam 17 HOURS AGO (Edited)

In reply to Slightly less than thoughtful
Here are things which changed massively the quality of
life outside the Silicon Valley.

Around 2003 a German Vendor contacted me and

wanted me to get on their team as they were
 wanted me to get on their team as they were
developing new type of wind turbine which would
be able to provide clean current output. Though I
didn't take it up, but along with the Wind, the Solar
panels started to flood the market by 2008. Wind
and Solar now supply more than 6% of the total
world energy despite the fact that energy
consumption has doubled. This renewable
revolution is less than 20 years old.
In 2006 oil hit $150 per barrel, and who would
have thought when the first shale oil well was
drilled by Halliburton @2007-08 it would unlock
10 times more reserves than the total global
conventional oil reserves. Oil reserves can now
meet the mankind needs for 1000s of years.
I see similar revolution taking place in India among
the start-ups. Just an example, a young man
explained to me that they are working on photo
comparison technology for quality inspection of
manufactured parts dramatically reducing the
quality control cost for car companies.
By 1980s mankind had given up on Moon despite
multiple landing. Now India is landing on moon for
less than US$75 million and the cost is only going
down. The commercial opportunities could be
huge. Space tourism alone would pick up
massively if the round trip of say 3 days cost
$10,000. This is very much possible.
As an engineer I can see the technology is only
speeding up in Asia. India is more open whereas
China is also competing hard. While I think the
Silicon Valley AI claims are over the top, but the
application engineering revolution is speeding
up in ways which most of the non-technical
people can't even imagine. Who would have
thought that India can put 104 satellites in one
single space mission in 2017? While Western media
are just too focused on USA, the revolution is
really happening in China and India as they have
millions of engineers at their command.

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VincentVega 18 HOURS AGO

President Putin and President Xi look young and robust. not sure
what the concern us about?
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1970823/vladimir-putin-xi-
jinping-calendar-fsb
 Recommend Reply Share Report

Slightly less than thoughtful 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to VincentVega
Yes, this is probably why the writer wrote that:

The problem with older world leaders is not their health...most of those mentioned

above are robust

and then described the other problems with older world

leaders
Recommend 6 Reply Share Report

VincentVega 15 HOURS AGO

In reply to Slightly less than thoughtful
A painting is worth a 100 words.
Recommend Reply Share Report

PSGY 18 HOURS AGO

Very interesting. Plus, is author trying to tell us here is that 70's is

the new 50's?
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roger thornhill 18 HOURS AGO

There are a lot of explanations or factors which may be the cause of

our current travails but frankly the age of some/many of the leaders
is a particularly weak one.
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Slightly less than thoughtful 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to roger thornhill
I don't think this article blames our current situation on the
world leadership's age, but rather forecasts a new problem
resulting from it
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kilohertz 18 HOURS AGO

From the regime media that spent the last 4 years telling us Biden
was sharp as a tack ...
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Slightly less than thoughtful 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to kilohertz
I th fi i l ti l i h h
 I never once saw the financial times claim he was as sharp as
a tack, and in fact wrote in 2022 that he needed to do more to
build up a replacement candidate
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Hold on a sec 18 HOURS AGO (Edited)

"Half your age plus 7" is the adage for a man to find the apparant
ideal age for a woman.

There must be a democratic version of this? Half the average age

plus 10?

In a lot of the countries mentioned, its more like half the average
plus 70
Recommend Reply Share Report

Bitter_sweet 14 HOURS AGO

In reply to Hold on a sec
That's not the ideal woman's age for a man, it's the age of the
youngest woman he should be going after. We can put limits
on really old man leaders without bringing up (and
misapplying) that trope.
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AGIA 18 HOURS AGO

Too bad the alternative of young leaders is not better. Who will
forget the tyrannical and dystopian Covid policies from New Zealand
to France to Canada, all advocated, planned for, and executed by the
WEF group of Young Leaders, a group that learned how to worship
Klaus Schwab and the dystopian agenda of the WEF. I rather take an
aging Lula, Trump, or whomever over 70 over any or these WEF
educated young Turks.
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Smallworld 18 HOURS AGO

While I accept everything that he says, I wonder in the countries that

have old men at the top (they are all men), how attractive and
desirable is it for younger people to get into politics. Who are the
people at the top or ones that are right behind them? Are they the
brightest and the most motivated to make a positive improvement
in people's lives.

I am quite sure that politics everywhere has ceased to be calling for

the best. That is what we need to change and attend to. What we
need is good people at the top with clever and ambitious people
behind, learning the ropes and happy to step in when the time is
right.
Recommend Reply Share Report

Black Camel 18 HOURS AGO (Edited)

Fully agree with this. At their age, their time is practically up.

They have nothing to lose and they won’t have to suffer any
medium or long term negative consequences from their actions.

If so, it follows that things will get worse as their numbered days go by.

I hope this prophecy never comes to pass…

Recommend 11 Reply Share Report

atlante 18 HOURS AGO

JG it’s Character not Age !

Recommend Reply Share Report

D Bielinski 18 HOURS AGO

No World for old Men!

The most vicious old men seem to go on forever. Trump, Bibi, Putin.
Recommend 9 Reply Share Report

roger thornhill 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to D Bielinski
perhaps even Lear,
But not JackFalstaff............
Recommend Reply Share Report

Backlight 18 HOURS AGO

Enjoyed this. Thank you.

My grandmother described herself as a recycled teenager at this

age! Does make you wonder...

But thanks for reminding me of her and one of her favourite

phrases!
Recommend 5 Reply Share Report

mr inbetween 18 HOURS AGO

Biden was a great example - seemed to be desperate for youthful

acceptance...and nodded through policies driven by that mindset.
Seemed he did what his grandkids wanted...
 g

Oh course maybe he was simply not there...

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whoopsadaisy 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to mr inbetween
His grandkids wanted a CHIPS act ?
Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

PK 18 HOURS AGO
In reply to mr inbetween
A comment with deep thoughts of an old man.
Recommend Reply Share Report

Fiduciary Duty 18 HOURS AGO

There is a maturity, an empathy, an experience that only comes with

age. We have longer lifespans now. As long as their minds are sharp,
keep the old guys on.
Recommend Reply Share Report

Olibeee 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to Fiduciary Duty
You didn’t read the article, did you?
Recommend 21 Reply Share Report

Wlkrrch 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to Fiduciary Duty
At what age will Donald Trump acquire maturity and
empathy? There can't be many people on this planet with less
of those qualities than him.
Recommend 8 Reply Share Report

PK 18 HOURS AGO
In reply to Fiduciary Duty
And have their assistant read them emails?
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

Stoneofheaven 17 HOURS AGO

In reply to Fiduciary Duty
Empathy? They grow increasingly right wing, which is quite
the opposite.
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report
Meldrew 18 HOURS AGO

At 78. I am now returning to being as anti establishment pest that I

was in my youth, the difference is that I now understand why.
I agree that the over 70s should not be candidates to run a country.
At 70 and over you are considered to be a potentual driving risk and
your sight and mental cognitive state is being questioned. There are
no such tests to run a country 🤔
I can however see the benifit of calling on those 60 and over, who
have been succesful in life and business for their thoughts and
suggestions.
Clearly the earlier generations running our country during the past
decade have not exelled, apart from convincing many old and the
gullable to trust them.
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AnotherCog 18 HOURS AGO

Yeah and you're one of them!

Recommend Reply Share Report

Slightly less than thoughtful 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to AnotherCog
The writer is 43? Hardly hitting the upper bounds of his life
here
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gkmuc 18 HOURS AGO (Edited)

Is this new? Adenauer, Churchill, de Gaulle, Franco, Salazar, Perón,

Mitterand, Deng Xiaping, Pinochet, the Castros, Benedict XVI.,
Balaguer, the Soviet leaders - they were are all around 80 when they
left power.
Recommend 8 Reply Share Report

roger thornhill 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to gkmuc
conversely were Hitler, Stalin, Tojo, Mussolini old men?
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Wappi 19 HOURS AGO (Edited)

Paul Biya (Cameroun) = 92 👈

running again (planning to be in
power until he's 100)
Salman of Saudi Arabia = 89
Mahmoud Abbas (PNA) = 89
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (Equatorial Guinea) = 83
🥹
 Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

PK 18 HOURS AGO
In reply to Wappi
MBS is not 89 who is the defecto ruler of KSA.
Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

roger thornhill 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to PK
"defecto" , good one
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Wappi 16 HOURS AGO

In reply to PK
The King of Saudi Arabia, at the present time, is Salman,
who's 89!
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Sean is pronounced as seen 19 HOURS AGO

The weight of each vote should scale negatively with age. Look at
Japan. The country is basically ruled by elderly mafia who are
overrepresented in the electorate and run its finances as their
pension piggy bank with no foresight for the future.
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Louis from Lewes 19 HOURS AGO

If you can’t wear jeans you shouldn’t be in charge of anything.

Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

manhandled 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to Louis from Lewes
That saves Biden, though. Are you sure?
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Julian D. A. Wiseman 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to Louis from Lewes
@Louis from Lewes
> If you can’t wear jeans you shouldn’t be in charge of
anything.
The result of such a rule would be the oldsters wearing jeans.
We do not need, on top of the other problems, that additional
aesthetic damage. Please no.
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SimonJB 19 HOURS AGO (Edited)

Jung "Life begins at 40, up until then you are just doing research"

It is interesting to observe this phenomen, of societies being led by

older males. We think that we've improved ourselves since roaming
around on the Savannah a million years ago, but it doesn't seem so
clear?

As an Anthropology student (very mature) one can speculate a

number of reasons for this; firstly in complex societies with multiple
sources of institutional power one might need decades to build up a
deep enough power base to be able to leverage one's network to
take control? It could be that we trust older people more than
younger ones? Trust has definitely fallen in recent years and one
could argue that the rise of populism is about people turning away
from political systems that they don't trust anymore.

People used to go on about Reagan's cognitive decline, but he is

often cited as one of the most respected American Presidents,
YouTube is full of his jokes (well mine is!). Maybe being 'smart' is
associated with being dishonest these days? Maybe correctly?

Machiavelli might have asked this question - would you prefer an

honest leader with high cognitive intelligence, or a streetwise fixer
who can guide your Country to success? Singapore's Lee Kuan Lew
springs to mind.
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Kanye North 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to SimonJB
I think Japan has pretty old leadership as well, president Xi Of
China isn’t white, last time I checked the president of Turkey
isn’t white. Enough with this old white male stuff. Oh yeah,
then there’s Nancy Pelosi, Diane Feinstein, I think the
leadership at Hamas is pretty young too, right?
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Sean is pronounced as seen 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to Kanye North
Erdogan is white. You can just look at him to infer this
much.
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PK 18 HOURS AGO
In repl to K N h
 In reply to Kanye North
Read the article again. He is talking about old running
the country not white old farts.
Recommend 6 Reply Share Report

Black Camel 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to SimonJB
Those that control the digital information platforms - Tiktok,
Youtube, Facebook, Instagram etc… may be amongst the most
powerful of all.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

drplix 19 HOURS AGO

A perspicacious counterpoint to the belief that age brings sagacity.

Or, the older they are the harder the right.

Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

Bajanchris 19 HOURS AGO

There should be a compulsory retirement age for all politicians and

judges of 75.
Recommend 24 Reply Share Report

Jules 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to Bajanchris
yes! Maybe even 70.
Recommend 12 Reply Share Report

wanderer 16 HOURS AGO

In reply to Bajanchris
The Vatican limits electors in conclaves to cardinals under 75.
Perhaps we should have a compulsory retirement age for
politicians and electors. (I am over 80).
Recommend 10 Reply Share Report

Viva Vulpus 15 HOURS AGO

In reply to Bajanchris
How about retiring at retirement age like everyone else.
Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

Kenneth Kohlrabi 8 HOURS AGO

In reply to Bajanchris
60 max. Any older and you will have lost all touch with the
issues hopes dreams and challenges affecting citizens aged
 issues, hopes, dreams and challenges affecting citizens aged
18-25.
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Lusitan 19 HOURS AGO

The world is governed by old men because the world population has
never been older
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Kanye North 19 HOURS AGO

I don’t think it’s just men, Nancy Pelosi, Diane Feinstein, several
other women have been involved in making bad policy for their own
personal game. didn’t Margaret Thatcher conduct several wars?
Angela merkel Was fine in invading Iraq. I think you’re deciding to
cherry pick analysis to fit your own narrative. Power, corrupts,
everybody, not just old men!
Recommend 34 Reply Share Report

GoDawgs 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to Kanye North
Shout-out to Nancy Pelosi, best and greatest stock trader of
all times.
Recommend 55 Reply Share Report

AGIA 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to GoDawgs
Psst - this is the FT. You are not supposed to point
these things out on the Democratic side.
Recommend 14 Reply Share Report

GoDawgs 15 HOURS AGO

In reply to AGIA
In general, European media sure gloss over, if not
completely ignore, democrats' turpitudes, no
doubt about that.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

PhotoIggs 17 HOURS AGO

In reply to Kanye North
Margaret Thatcher was involved in the Falklands War, which,
if I'm not mistaken, was started by Galtieri of Argentina.
What other wars were you thinking of (chatgpt is your
friend)?
Recommend 18 Reply Share Report
 Recommend 18 Reply Share Report

Carrillon 17 HOURS AGO

In reply to Kanye North
Whatever you might think of Thatcher on other policy issues,
it was hardly her fault that the Argentinian and Iraqi
dictatorships chose to conduct invasions of sovereign
territories.
Recommend 9 Reply Share Report

Gunner4life 13 HOURS AGO

In reply to Carrillon
She also classified Nelson Mandela as a terrorist for
opposing apartheid.
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

KONSTANTIN PAUSTOSKVY 13 HOURS AGO

In reply to Gunner4life
What do you call a man who admitted to being
taking an active part in an organisation that
carried out a bombing at a bar in Durban that left
three dead and more than 60 wounded, and a car
bomb that killed 19 outside of the headquarters of
the country’s Air Force in Pretoria in 1983?
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Gunner4life 13 HOURS AGO

In reply to KONSTANTIN PAUSTOSKVY
A freedom fighter
Recommend 6 Reply Share Report

KONSTANTIN PAUSTOSKVY 21 MINUTES AGO

In reply to Gunner4life
If you knowingly and deliberately kill
civilians, you a terrorist
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Telemaque 19 HOURS AGO

Interesting, I would have thought having a leader more preoccupied

with how history will remember him than short term priorities (e.g.
reelection) would be a good thing
Recommend Reply Share Report

PK 18 HOURS AGO
 In reply to Telemaque
Not if you are busy planning or actually invading your
neighbors and perceived part of greater country in case of
PRC.
Recommend Reply Share Report

what's wrong.... 19 HOURS AGO

Sexist and ageist - imagine the fuss if he referenced, say, the number
of women in another context?

At least he didn't have a chance to add 'white' to his list

PS I don't seem to remember Liz Truss doing so well

Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

Mytilenaean 19 HOURS AGO

The Kaiser was in his fifties but Franz Joseph was 84 in 1914... .
Recommend 5 Reply Share Report

Debny 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to Mytilenaean
And Tsar Nicholas II was 46.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

FirstUp 19 HOURS AGO

Great article... Is the reverse true for corporations?

Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Outta Toon Geordie 19 HOURS AGO

End of life dinosaurs who care very little about what's right and
what's wrong ....
Recommend 4 Reply Share Report

DMCc 19 HOURS AGO

I think Brexit is as much the fault of the young as the old- the old
voted in great numbers; the young did not. A similar disproportion
exists where Trump is concerned I believe.
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

JollyHo! 19 HOURS AGO

It’s certainly true that the parties which run many countries are
perfectly entrenched, and the insiders who run the parties and
hence the countries are not keen to cede control It’s almost a bit
hence the countries, are not keen to cede control. It s almost a bit
feudal, with little trust beyond direct family members, protégés and
party loyalists.

Is it the case that European countries are less powerful because the
politicians are more useless, or is it that the parties are less ruthless
because there isn’t such a powerful country to cling onto the reigns
of? Certainly I’m glad to live somewhere in which politics isn’t
literally a game of life and death for those directly playing.
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Pseudo Nym 19 HOURS AGO

The old hate the young. They want to turn the clock back not just to
return to the time of their own youth, but also to steal from the
young their adaptation to a present in which the old feel themselves
out of place. So we get MAGA and brexit.

A sixteen year old might well live with the consequences of their
vote for seventy years. A seventy year old might live with the
consequences for sixteen years. A better democracy would weight
votes accordingly and end the rule of the resentful old.
Recommend 174 Reply Share Report

Kanye North 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to Pseudo Nym
Old people in politics, maybe? Is that how all old people
think? Doesn’t JD Vance wanna go back to the 80s? I know
plenty of millennials and Gen X who wanna go back to the
80s too, hence all the nostalgia around it, and fashion. And
why is it so bad to feel youthful? There’s an aging prejudice
here that I don’t understand.
Recommend 17 Reply Share Report

JaneB 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to Pseudo Nym
On the contrary, with this sort of comment I think the problem
is the reverse - the young seem to 'hate' the older generation
?

But it is an issue that the experiences when you are young

consciously and unconsciously frame your view of the world .
You need the vision and energy of the young (as you say this
will be their world) but occasionally this needs the slight
cynicism and greater experience of the world that comes with
age.

The problem is to balance the two As the article suggests

The problem is to balance the two. As the article suggests
currently the balance appears wrong - fighting to preserve
the old world not ushering in the new world.
Recommend 16 Reply Share Report

Reedo 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to JaneB
In economics we call it revealed preference. Viewed
from that lens, the old absolutely despise the young.
Recommend 44 Reply Share Report

Dogs' Dinner 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to Pseudo Nym
I don't hate the young, I envy them their future and their lack
of aches and pains. I am deeply ashamed of the old men of
my generation who hold such power and who lack both
decency and compassion.
Recommend 45 Reply Share Report

Habibbi 17 HOURS AGO

In reply to Dogs' Dinner
Look on the bright side, at least you don't queue up at
the bar, in a pub, as if you're in the Post Office.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Dogs' Dinner 16 HOURS AGO

In reply to Habibbi
So?
Recommend 5 Reply Share Report

Habibbi 10 MINUTES AGO

In reply to Dogs' Dinner
https://www.msn.com/en-
gb/foodanddrink/other/gen-z-has-
forgotten-how-to-order-drinks-at-the-bar-
and-pubs-are-fighting-back/ar-AA1sYy5Q?
ocid=AVRES000

Keep up!
Recommend Reply Share Report

Saynowt 15 HOURS AGO

In reply to Habibbi
?
 Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Vega 17 HOURS AGO

In reply to Pseudo Nym
Actually, possibly for the first time in history, I would not want
to be a young person today. Considering what is coming
down the line for them, we feel pity for the young.
Recommend 9 Reply Share Report

Bob, Freelancer 14 HOURS AGO (Edited)

In reply to Pseudo Nym
I am no longer a spring chicken - and I don’t hate the young.

On the contrary I take pleasure in watching my daughter

navigate through life - and voted Remain very much with her
in mind.
I wanted her to have the opportunities that were available to
me.

However I - in my limited way - have had some successes and

do not feel the need to prove anything.
Recommend 5 Reply Share Report

AmLaur 31 MINUTES AGO (Edited)

In reply to Pseudo Nym
Yes, although the young do not tend to vote in the same
numbers as the old. This needs to be first to change, then it
may prove as you say, that further weighting is necessary.
Recommend Reply Share Report

Last orders 19 HOURS AGO

And some current leaders are old because if they don't seek
reelection then they will end up in court.
Recommend 96 Reply Share Report

Bob, Freelancer 14 HOURS AGO (Edited)

In reply to Last orders
Or falling from a tenth storey window in less civilised
countries.

The fates of Ceaușescu, Hussein and Gadaffi must prey on

their minds.
Recommend 3 Reply Share Report
Chinese Peasant 19 HOURS AGO

Btw given current events if you were to replace another country for
China in all the articles what would be the reaction, eg US students
having their degrees revoked, beaten, arrested or kicked out for
staging *anti-China* protests. Interesting thought experiment
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

Lit Clicker 19 HOURS AGO

"In a world that understands the permanence of violence, it came to

believe that it had transcended such things." Well - it was something
they wanted to achieve and they were right to back it up with the
action of disarming. Otherwise people like you would have berated
them for only talking the talk. Now you say - "ha ha told you so". You
can't have it both ways.
Recommend Reply Share Report

A9000 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to Lit Clicker
The premise was false - either the world agrees to end the
permanence of violence or it continues. One area going alone
with disarmament simply makes it vulnerable to others who
remain armed.
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

Lit Clicker 16 HOURS AGO

In reply to A9000
Yes but the people who tried to build that world had to
back it up with action. The unknown was whether
others would follow. And now we know that they won't.
So nothing wrong with having tried.
Recommend Reply Share Report

Old Brown 19 HOURS AGO

Imagine a world, electorate and a press tolerant enough to allow

young or female leaders!

Yeah....me neither.
Recommend 11 Reply Share Report

AJVC 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to Old Brown
Europe has had plenty.
Recommend 18 Reply Share Report
 Old Brown 19 HOURS AGO
In reply to AJVC
And as the article states, is an exception.
Recommend Reply Share Report

AJVC 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to Old Brown
Ah, sorry, didn't realise Europe was not part of the
World.
Recommend 12 Reply Share Report

Old Brown 19 HOURS AGO (Edited)

In reply to AJVC
I’m not sure there’s a need for sarcasm. It’s
just that Europe isn’t “The World”.
Recommend Reply Share Report

AJVC 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to Old Brown
I am able to imagine a world where it
happens, because it happens regularly
in Europe. Your point was to make it
seem as if was an impossible dream. It
isn't!
Recommend 9 Reply Share Report

Old Brown 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to AJVC
In small pockets of the world,
there are exceptions. Extending
this to the whole world would be
great but at the moment,
remains very much an
impossible dream.
Recommend Reply Share
Report

Kenneth Kohlrabi 7 HOURS AGO

In reply to Old Brown
There are many places - including in India, Africa, South
America, Pakistan, New Zealand, Australia and all across
Europe where women are, and have been, leaders. Some were
good, some not.
Recommend Reply Share Report
Hans J 19 HOURS AGO

Like the Roman emperors, kings and other’s … however 50 years old
on first century is 80+ years old now …
Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

MrJdL 19 HOURS AGO

Connected to the subject in Janan’s last column of falling birth rates,

we have “more” old people than we’ve ever had before. In real and
proportional terms. The electorate skews old, and so do the politics.
Maybe old men planted trees in the past at least in part because
they saw a younger world to inherit the shade..
Recommend 16 Reply Share Report

KDB 16 HOURS AGO

In reply to MrJdL
You have the cause and effect backwards.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

I want my COVFEFE!!! 19 HOURS AGO

two tier doesn't know what he believes

Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

Anthony Hu 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to I want my COVFEFE!!!
He’s waiting for his backbenchers to tell him
Recommend 3 Reply Share Report

I want my COVFEFE!!! 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to Anthony Hu
the speechwriters apparently
Recommend Reply Share Report

Sir Jeffrey Wallabonger 19 HOURS AGO

One of the destabilising forces in the world today is the advanced age of those who run
it.

Indeed. Only Gen Z should be allowed to run the world.

Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

KDB 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to Sir Jeffrey Wallabonger
 It would be great if people actually read the piece then
commented.
Recommend 29 Reply Share Report

Lit Clicker 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to Sir Jeffrey Wallabonger
General Zod? That was only fiction.
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

Alex 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to Sir Jeffrey Wallabonger
Perhaps the one merit of the old is that they are more likely
to die sooner.
Recommend Reply Share Report

GoDawgs 19 HOURS AGO (Edited)

I can speak for France, we have younger leaders (alongside Macron,

Gabriel Attal was PM for eight months last year, born march 1989)
and yet they fully cater to the needs and desires of the most voting
section of the population, i.e. boomers. Their pensions, as everyone
here will know or guess, are untouchable, despite constituting the
crux of France's issues. I'd do anything for old 77yo geezers ready to
shake things up. And, full disclosure, I do benefit from those high
pensions through my parents.
Recommend 53 Reply Share Report

Hans J 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to GoDawgs
Spot on … some leaders are old in fact …
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Napoleon Dynamite 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to GoDawgs
Boomers pensions is not the crux of France's pensions. If
only...
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

GoDawgs 19 HOURS AGO (Edited)

In reply to Napoleon Dynamite
25% of public spending. Only OECD country where
pensioners have incomes on par or superior to those of
active workers. Yes it is.
Recommend 31 Reply Share Report
 Unilecturer 18 HOURS AGO
In reply to GoDawgs
I think we challenge them, retirees have more
disposable income than working households on
average in the UK. I will not be outdone by the
French, in any metric!!
https://hrcentre.uk.brightmine.com/commentary-
and-insights/pensioners-now-earn-more-than-
working-age-population-report-finds/161866/
Recommend 13 Reply Share Report

GoDawgs 17 HOURS AGO

In reply to Unilecturer
Hahaha the triple lock vs stagnating real UK
wages can only exacerbate this trend for
another generation.
Recommend 4 Reply Share Report

Brunt_FCA 19 HOURS AGO

Sitting on a mountain of grievances, with no regard for the future.

What could possibly go wrong with these guys.

Recommend 25 Reply Share Report

caleb 19 HOURS AGO

All true, but Janan Ganesh ignores a huge problem with young
leaders.

How do they make money when they leave office?

In many cases, they take jobs with investment banks.

Sometimes, investment banks they appear to have assisted during

their time in office. Uber, BlackRock and a certain former chancellor
spring to mind.

This may explain why Europe's young leaders so often appear to be

captive Centrists who prosecute an agenda of globalisation that
helps certain industries and destroys others, while undermining their
countries' national security by making them economically
dependent on villainous foreign dictatorships.

Older leaders, by contrast, seem to actually care about their

countries. Which is why the Centrists hate them so much.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report
 Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

AJVC 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to caleb
Yes, they should take a leaf out of Trump's book; famously
uninterested in enriching himself or his family whilst in office.
Good point.
Recommend 28 Reply Share Report

NBSJ 19 HOURS AGO

In many cases the examples given are people who came to power
and now don't want to give it up. They grow old in the role.
Recommend 21 Reply Share Report

Anacott Steel 2 19 HOURS AGO

Wes Streeting is 42
Recommend 4 Reply Share Report

AJVC 19 HOURS AGO

"A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade
they shall never sit.”

And yet we are run by old men focussed on the polar opposite. It is
for the now, the immediate; kick the can down the road on pensions,
borrowing, immigration, war.

Old men entirely interested in extracting for personal gain and glory
rather than building for a future they will not see.

If there is a minimum age for a US president, there should be a

maximum.
Recommend 424 Reply Share Report

Ace Face 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to AJVC
Errrr agreed but not sure Cameron, Sanchez, Meloni, Macron,
Boris, Clegg and Co are/were interested in growing a tree
whose shade they shall never sit.
Recommend 101 Reply Share Report

Le Triboulet 17 HOURS AGO (Edited)

In reply to Ace Face
SENILITY CONTEST: who is faltering first?

… hidden defects of the failed Casino King?

 g
… mental processing limits of the Russian butcher?
… ideological brain ossification of the red princling?

At high age: expect 3-5 ailments: multimorbidity …

where are the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessments, a

well tested methodology?

Dynamics of brain plaque and frustration about end of

life.
Recommend 14 Reply Share Report

AJS inc. 15 HOURS AGO

In reply to Ace Face
Boris planted loads of trees.

He just hasn’t met them all yet.

Recommend 18 Reply Share Report

blob79 14 HOURS AGO

In reply to AJS inc.
"seeds" would have worked better here.
Recommend 22 Reply Share Report

AJS inc. 13 HOURS AGO

In reply to blob79
Nah. Too obvious.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Ace Face 10 HOURS AGO

In reply to AJS inc.
Indeed !
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Ace Face 10 HOURS AGO

In reply to AJS inc.
Excellent 🤣
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

MiddleMan67 54 MINUTES AGO

In reply to AJS inc.
Boris was all about: roots and leaves …
Recommend Reply Share Report
Le Gun 19 HOURS AGO
In reply to AJVC
Planting trees with a 4-5 year electoral cycle is nigh
impossible with today’s polarised politics electorate.
Recommend 33 Reply Share Report

AJVC 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to Le Gun
The Tories had 14 consecutive years.
Recommend 80 Reply Share Report

Vega 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to AJVC
So where's their tree? Boris forgot where it was
planted, didn't he?
Recommend 8 Reply Share Report

towerofbabble 17 HOURS AGO

In reply to Vega
I think they were operating under the
illusion that they did have a tree.... a magic
money one.
Recommend 15 Reply Share Report

5au5age5 16 HOURS AGO

In reply to Vega
he shagged it
Recommend 25 Reply Share Report

Bahhunbug 13 HOURS AGO

In reply to 5au5age5
Comment of the week
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

Bahhunbug 13 HOURS AGO

In reply to Vega
Nah, he knew where it was, but he sold it.
Recommend 1 Reply Share Report

Unknown91 15 HOURS AGO

In reply to AJVC
sadly the issue isnt so much how long a party is in
 y g p y
power but how many elections it has to face
during that time... and the tories did their best to
maximise that...
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

MissMarple 13 HOURS AGO

In reply to Le Gun
This is a big part of the problem for leaders old and
young.
Recommend Reply Share Report

mmccre02 19 HOURS AGO

In reply to AJVC
It’s the biggest tragedy of our time and a terrible, terrible
example to our young men. No wonder unemployment rate is
increasing and youth conservatism is also.

Our elders have laid waste to the structure of our society and
continue to find reasons for doing so.
Recommend 34 Reply Share Report

PK 18 HOURS AGO
In reply to mmccre02
I may point out that a bunch of these leaders are
conservative and not liberal in any classic sense. So
youth becoming more conservative is not because of
our leaders but inspite of them.
Recommend 4 Reply Share Report

With the grain 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to AJVC
Completely agree. The Roman (?) times when the ‘Senate’
implied selfless wisdom of age are long gone. Now it seems to
be the selfish need for a legacy.

An absolute tragedy and the saddest truth of our age. We

need to change this (or at least the men - always men! - who
fill the roles).
Recommend 6 Reply Share Report

Short-termist 18 HOURS AGO

In reply to AJVC
Nowhere is this more obvious than their attitude to the
melting of the Poles and the climate change that is causing it
 melting of the Poles and the climate change that is causing it,
as well so many other extreme climatic events.
Recommend 15 Reply Share Report

FrankB 17 HOURS AGO (Edited)

In reply to AJVC
And a term limit for the Supreme Court would be no bad
thing either.
Recommend 32 Reply Share Report

S F 17 HOURS AGO
In reply to AJVC
If the young truly possess judiciousness why do they still
orbit the gerontocracy like satellites? The handful who do
manage to command a sizeable following ( zelenesky, MBS)
merely prove the rule. Youth’s moment in the spotlight is
quickly re-interpreted as a preamble to the “real” authority of
age.
Recommend Reply Share Report

I'm French, deal with it 14 HOURS AGO

In reply to AJVC
and lets even mention the elephant in the room, climate
change...
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

meatnveg 13 HOURS AGO

In reply to I'm French, deal with it
Haha- that isn’t the elephant. The enormous, honking,
stampeding elephant is the one in the brave little
country, the only democracy in its region, with the most
moral army in the world, that must never ever be
criticized (even if it’s cited in the original article).

The fact that there is an accompanying article,

describing the onset of famine as a result of that moral
military, simply heightens the absurdity
Recommend 2 Reply Share Report

LK. 20 HOURS AGO

Young people are not turning out to vote the same extent as their
(grand)parents either, which is not helping the prospect of younger
politicians trying to get popular support.
Recommend 12 Reply Share Report
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