America’s Coming Population Crash—and China’s, with Nicholas Eberstadt
America’s Coming Population Crash—and China’s, with Nicholas Eberstadt  
Podcast: School of War
Published On: Fri May 08 2026
Description: Nicholas Eberstadt, the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute, joins School of War to discuss global population decline. What does a shrinking and aging population mean for the United States? What does it mean for China, whose demographic crisis may be even more severe? How could population decline reshape economic growth, military power, and geopolitical competition? And what happens to the international order when the world stops growing? 03:02 Population decline in America 006:15 Deaths exceeding births in the US 07:31 Global birth crash 14:49 Grounds for optimism 17:12 Small family trend 18:17 GDP relationship with population size 19:23  Individual prosperity vs. National strength 21:24 Rise in human life expectancy 24:36  Ben Carson’s prediction 27:11 Ukraine’s military revolution  30:47  American bad habits 33:48 AI and the labor market 37:25 Chinese depopulation crisis 48:50  What would a world war look like today? 51:48 US Alliance relationships Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more at The Free Press.