How long can human beings live? Will it become increasingly normal for one to live up to 100 years? What impact will aging have in our societies? To answer these questions, Pedro Pinto interviews Andrew J. Scott in this episode of “It’s Not That Simple”, a podcast by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation.

An expert on longevity and aging society, Andrew J. Scott is Professor of Economics at London Business School, having previously held positions at Oxford University, the London School of Economics and Harvard University. He was Managing Editor for the Royal Economic Society’s Economic Journal and Non-Executive Director for the UK’s Financial Services Authority (2009-2013). He is currently on the advisory board of the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility, the Cabinet Office Honours Committee (Science and Technology), co-founder of The Longevity Forum, a member of the WEF council on Healthy Ageing and Longevity and a consulting scholar at Stanford University’s Center on Longevity. Scott is also the recipient of an ESRC grant for researching the economic longevity dividend.

In this episode, Scott discusses how we have been able to increase our life expectancy so much in the last few decades. He considers how living longer is “a good thing”, but also the challenges it nevertheless poses. He addresses how governments and companies can deal with some of these challenges. Finally, Scott examines how in order to change the way people age and improve their quality of life at an older age, we must change and improve the way we live when they’re younger, in a conversation well worth listening to.

More on this topic

• The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity, Andrew J. Scott and Linda Gratton, 2016

• The New Long Life: A Framework for Flourishing in a Changing World, Andrew J. Scott and Linda Gratton, 2016

• Andrew J. Scott on living a 100 year life 

• Andrew J. Scott on “The Economics of a Longevity Dividend” 

• Andrew J. Scott on how to prepare for a longer life 

• Andrew J. Scott’s blog 

Other references in Portuguese

• Essay of the Foundation “O Envelhecimento da Sociedade Portuguesa” by Maria João Valente Rosa 

• Essay of the Foundation “Envelhecimento e políticas de saúde”, by Teresa Rodrigues 

• “Dinâmicas demográficas e envelhecimento”, a study by Mário Leston Bandeira for the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation 

• “Processos de Envelhecimento em Portugal”, a study by Manuel Villaverde Cabral for the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation 

• “Envelhecimento Activo em Portugal”, a study by Manuel Villaverde Cabral and Pedro Moura Ferreira for the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation 

• “Genética, stress crónico e envelhecimento”, a conference held by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation