The U.S. fertility rate just hit 1.62 in 2025, the lowest on record. It peaked at 2.10 in 2007. Replacement is 2.1. The U.S. has cleared replacement once in 50 years. This is the most important chart in American business and almost nobody prices it correctly. 1.62 means each generation runs 23% smaller than the one before it. The 2025 birth cohort numbers 3.6 million, roughly the same as 1979 against a U.S. population that has nearly doubled. The 2007 cohort enters prime working age in 2029.…