USA Lost 40 Million People in 20 Years (1990-2010)

[VetLegion]

Actually, the USA did not lose so many people. The thread title is to give you
a feel for the scale of this loss. It actually happened in Bulgaria in the same
period. In 20 years population declined from ~9 million to ~7.5 million, a drop
of ~16%. It's the same as if the USA lost ~40 million in the same period.


(Image source: http://globaleconomydoesmatter.blogs...-bulgaria.html)

Some interesting things to note about this:

1. There were no wars, disease or natural disasters in Bulgaria. It just... happened.
2. The country is functioning normally
3. Standard of living is increasing (not just GDP/capita, but also GDP)
4. There is no need for large scale immigration
5. The country has been running a fiscal surplus prior to the crisis

What communism does to a country, eh? The pattern of population decrease is
observable elsewhere in the former communist states of Eastern Europe. An interesting
comparison is with Croatia. We had a bloody war in the 1990's, as a result many died
and many more fled or were displaced. With all that, our population decreased only 7% or
so. Why?

Our form of communism was much milder.

[Jon Miller]

Do you have any age related demographic problems?

JM

[Provost Harrison]

Well if you're anything like the rest of Western Europe then people just aren't having kids. My own country's population is increasing as a result of immigration more than anything else. Hey, perhaps all those Bulgarians are just in London

[VetLegion]

Do you have any age related demographic problems?

JM

We have 1.1 million pensioners and 1.4 million workers. You think you have
it bad in the US?

My own country's population is increasing as a result of immigration more than anything else. Hey, perhaps all those Bulgarians are just in London

Possible. Bulgarian language is a slavic one similar to Polish (a bit "harder" with
more "ratatata" sounds). Some of the "Polish invaders" are probably Bulgarian.

[Wezil]

Have you checked behind the couch or under the cushions? It's the first place I check when I lose things.

[Kuciwalker]

I suspect #4 isn't really true. If conditions are better somewhere else there is always a "need" for immigration.

[Dauphin]

(a bit "harder" with more "ratatata" sounds).

They talk more like machine guns?

[OzzyKP]

Wezil

An article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6148244.stm

I think it is fascinating.

I've often thought if because of economic or demographic factors some old family land in Hungary were to ever be abandoned I'd buy it up. Obviously it'd have to get really cheap, since I'm poor, but I wonder if any Bulgarian-Americans had any similar thoughts about the "old country". With the rise of telecommuting, how cool would it be to reclaim some old ancestral place in some ancient European village and hook up some satellite Internet and do your web design or what have you.

[VetLegion]

They talk more like machine guns?

Quite. I can't find a good clip of Bulgarian, but here's some Macedonian.
They're very similar. The first 20 seconds are enough to get the idea.

[Provost Harrison]

It's Borat!

[Dauphin]

And his Scouse cousin.

[DaShi]

Alien abductions.

[Provost Harrison]

Well they look prime specimens of humanity that undergo anal probing.

[Dinner]

I suspect #4 isn't really true. If conditions are better somewhere else there is always a "need" for immigration.

Exactly. The simple fact that salaries and standard of living are higher in the west will result in workers moving to the west even if conditions at home aren't so bad.

[Winston]

4. There is no need for large scale immigration

I suspect #4 isn't really true. If conditions are better somewhere else there is always a "need" for immigration.

I suspect you need to study the somewhat crucial difference between immi- and emigration.