Cool piece on the likely cause and consequences of France's declining fertility rate around the mid-18th century: https://worksinprogress.co/issue/frances-baby-bust. Wild how demographics totally change the arc of history.

I'm thinking the next century is defined by the new demographic powerhouses, esp. in Africa: Nigeria, Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania. These are young, exploding populations with strong incentives to adopt new technologies like Bitcoin and the Lightning Network. It's the new frontier.