Robots may help defuse demographic time bomb in Japan and Germany

Japan and Germany may be sitting on a ticking demographic time bomb where aging populations begin to drag down economic growth. Increased automation and more use of robotic technology in these manufacturing powerhouses could help cushion the impact, according to Moody's Investors Service. "To the extent that robots can undertake activity that require labor, they will compensate for the negative impact that a slower growth in labor force would have otherwise had on growth," Moody's analysts wrote in the report this month. Dependency ratios -- the share of those older than 65 years of the total population -- are projected to soar in both Germany and Japan. But these countries have two things going for them.