Old is Gold or Destiny favours Seventy plus :: In new era global politics -- Modi, Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin are all in Seventies

 US President Joe Biden is 80. Born 15 June 1953, Xi Jinping is 70 and Vladimir Putin, Born - 7th October 1952, is 71 years.

Donald Trump is 77. Born 1950, Narendra Modi is 73 years old. The big or small, the real question is will the new generation global players come into play sooner than later. 

Born: 21 October 1949 (age 74 years)

Born: 21 October 1949, even Benjamin Netanyahu is 74 years old. Interestingly, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was born on 25th January 1978 and is only 45 years.  

What does the story imply ? 

"The US is suffering the ageing pains of a geriatric giant who is losing his muscle tone. Its leadership is in tatters. Its Senate is headless. The man who became the 45th US president is vying to become its 47th president. Donald Trump is 77 years old, Joe Biden 80. Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have just entered their seventies. Destiny favours younger faces," according to an article in Pakistani newspaper 'Dawn'.  However, even in Pakistan people apparently are taking old protagonist Nawaz Sharif 'more seriously'; at least for the time being.

Born, 25th December (Like Atal Bihari Vajpayee), 1949, Sharif is 74 years old. 

"Nawaz Sharif’s celebratory return to Pakistan after several years in exile will turn into a political triumph only if the country’s military establishment, which had banished him from politics six years ago and now facilitated his recent resurrection, fundamentally changes its behaviour. So far, it seems that the establishment sees Sharif as a much-needed alternative to the dangerous populism of Imran Khan," says a piece in 'The Indian Express'.

Sharif, Vajpayee: Both share 'same birthday' (Dec 25) 

Notably, in a n edit 'The Hindu' newspaper says - "Nawaz Sharif’s deal with the military (obviously in Pakistan) is unlikely to last long".  

"In 2019, he went into exile in London. Four years later, the situation has changed dramatically. Mr. Khan, who was ousted from power last year, is now in jail and a critic of the military, and Mr. Sharif, once a foe of the generals, returned last week amid fanfare, with thousands of his supporters chanting at a rally, ‘Take charge again, save Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif," -- said the edit.

" Pakistan is no stranger to such political somersaults, where politicians join hands with the generals to tackle their opponents and make their path to power smoother, only to be laid down by the military. Mr. Sharif himself has done this thrice. So, Pakistan is back to the past when Mr. Sharif returns to the country, probably in an understanding with the generals, ahead of the general elections. 

He wants power and the generals want to sideline their new foe, Mr. Khan, and dismantle his party. It is a marriage of convenience".  

Born: 21 September 1988, Bilawal Bhutto is just 35 years old. He has already been his country's Foreign Minister; and perhaps a section of Pakistani voters and importantly his party PPP will keep a lot of hopes on Bhutto, whose mother Benazir and grand papa, Z A Bhutto have ruled Pakistan.

Ismail Abdel Salam Ahmed Haniyeh (born 29 January 1962) is a senior political leader of Hamas, the current chairman of Hamas's political bureau. He is 61. 

In a recent paper (Alesina et al. 2015), it was stated -- 

First, younger politicians have a potentially longer political career ahead of them and may be more subject to career concerns.

Second, younger politicians have a different time horizon and discount rate compared to older ones and might favour more long-term policies.

Third, younger politicians may be more energetic and hence more productive at work.  

In the academic literature, the famous Downsian framework predicts that a politician’s characteristics do not matter for policy, because both candidates in a two-way race will propose the policy platform favoured by the median voter. 

However, a rapidly growing set of studies have shown that the characteristics of political leaders can affect policies. 

In Indian context, Rahul Gandhi of Congress and Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi are the younger leaders. Incidentally, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is also in their club.

In fact, born 19th June 1970, Rahul Gandhi is 53 years old. Born on 1st July 1973, Akhilesh's age is 50 years. On the Other hand, Yogi Adityanath is born 5th June 1972 and is 51 years old. In political circle, Yogi is already being considered for a bigger role in 2029 or after that. 

Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran, in office since 1989 is 84. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in contrast only 51.