Are the elderly ruining our economy?
Anatole Kaletsky argues that baby boomers are ruining their country by voting for politicians who put more money into healthcare and pensions (programs for the elderly) as opposed to education and other programs towards the future. He makes a good argument. Thoughts?
Why, for example, are governments everywhere running out of money, not just in Britain and Greece, but also in America, Germany, Japan and France? Why are taxes relentlessly rising in all advanced capitalist countries? And why is public spending being cut on schools, universities, science, defence, culture, environment and transport, while spending on health and pensions continues to rise?The populist answer to these questions is that we are all about to pay for the greed of the bankers. But this is not true. According to IMF calculations, the credit crunch, bank bailouts and recession only account for 14 per cent of the expected increase in Britain’s public debt burden. The remaining 86 per cent of the long-term fiscal pressure is caused by the growth of public spending on health, pensions and long-term care. The credit crunch and recession did not create the present pressures on public borrowing and spending. They merely brought forward an age-related fiscal crisis that would have become inevitable, as by 2020 the majority of the baby-boomers will be retired.
The rational solution to this fiscal crisis would be for governments to reduce their spending on pensions, health and longterm care. Yet these are precisely the “entitlements” protected and ring-fenced by politicians, not just in Britain but also in America and many European countries, even as other government programmes are ruthlessly cut.
The politics of the next decade will be dominated by a battle over public spending and taxes between the generations. Young people will realise that different categories of public spending are in direct conflict — if they want more spending on schools, universities and environmental improvements they must vote for cuts in health and pensions.
This is a well written article. It's clear tht we can't keep diverting resources to unproductive areas of our economies but as Edmundo's video points out, "old peopel vote; young people don't". People are under the false impression that "they've earned it" but as this article shows, they haven't. Benefits are greater than the tax contributions (by 18% in Britain) so they're actually ripping off future tax payers.
At least by the time most of us retire, there won't be any public benefits programs to argue about. We just get the shaft...
I'm just hoping I get to some day, our generation may not have that luxury
I hope we don't have the "luxury" of social security. The only thing that pisses me off is that I have to pay into it.
You won't be able to retire if you fall into society's concept of financial management, which is to say, spend everything you make...and more. Living below your means is key. A a life long school teacher can retire with 7 figure savings with proper budgeting, and scale it up exponentially from there for more lucrative professions.
Live like no one else, and later you can live like no one else.
Ruining? How about ruined. The disgusting unions, pensions, and entitlements that generation, and those before them, created are obligations that are running us into the ground. Eventually, the piper will be paid. Einhorn's piece in the NYT a few days ago touches on this.
Unions and pensions served their purpose. I do not think they were a bad idea years ago, I just think they are a bad idea now. You will see less and less of them as we move forward. The real problem is the government workers. Why is it that everyone else has a 401(k) and no unions, but the government workers have the best benefits ever. We should convert them all over to a 401(k), remove their unions and make them like every other employee.
Social Security needs to be revamped and fast. Problem is as Edmundo says, old people vote and when you mention anything about SSI they freak out. It is a lightening rod issue. These fixed expenses and entitlement programs make up the bulk of our budget.
Government just keeps doing more and more with limited resources. People dont want to pay more, but they always expect more. On top of that efficiency is a forbidden word in the government. Only quasi government agency I respect and like is the Post Office.
Exactly, I saw a projection that Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security will make up 60% or more of government spending. And people bitch about the bank bailouts (which is money we got back with interest). We are circling the drain, boys.
even more disturbing, i saw statistic somewhere (i forget, but remembered it was from a pretty reliable source, i think zerohedge's blog) that demonstrated how even if the gov. were to eliminate all spending (including big ticket spending for defense) EXCEPT medicare/medicaid/social security, it would still be in a defecit. thats pretty fucking outrageous.
its funny this actually got posted. i saw my parents this weekend and we were talking politics. what started out as a discussion on politics and public policy degenerated into an argument about how my generation will never have the same quality of life as generations before bc the baby boomers fucked the country by spending and getting into debt.
i def think this will be a 'hot button' political issue going into the future. too bad young people would rather vote for american idol over presidential elections.
if the government had proper bodies to replace the unions...
If anybody is interested in further pissing themselves off regarding this argument, go to Costco on a weekday.
It's packed with wrinkly corpses hobbling around on walkers, arguing about bingo night, and mashing the 2 dollar hot dog + 24oz coke special with their denchers. And you will think to yourself, "I'm paying 50 cents out of every dollar I earn so these useless sacks of biological material can do THIS?" We could spend the money increasing the quality of public education, and we're doing this instead. Unbelievable!
You guys are all elitist greedy pricks. I for one love having my hard-earned money deployed so that degenerate women can keep spreading their legs and having welfare babies, illegal immigrants can keep receiving free healthcare, and people who spent more than they saved can live comfortably in retirement.
Also, the comments on that article are hysterical. This is one lady's idea of math:
"Yet more arrogant nonsense from the yoot I see! Here's some simple maths for all you whingers.
I'll forgo my state pension, say £95/w x say 52w x say 20 years = £98,800. I'll let YOU pay for my 2 sons to do 4 year Univ degree courses (£120k) and pay for my elderly mother's care fees (say £300pw x 52w x say 7 yrs = £109k).
Seems absolutely fair enough to me!!
Get a life and stop bloody whinging."
The situation blows, and there's not a damn thing we can do about it (other than leave).
We should start a young people party. The objective would be to funnel money to the younger generation, while being as a-ideological as possible.
You are an idiot if you think spending more in education helps it. Face it, the teachers in America are utter shit. Also , remember you will be old as well.
All unions have done is used and abused the system.....back in the day when they needed some workers rights, it was created and it served a purpose. In the current times, unions are designed to suck corporations dry of cash flows. Why? We can blame part of this on inflationary pressures that the government has created. The other worse half is the fact that union workers felt a sense of entitlement to a higher middle class standard of living. It is understandable that the jobs they perform are difficult labor, but the majority of those workers do not have the education level required to work the jobs that will compensate them for the standard of living they are currently living outside of their means. Unions support socialism and the same ideals that drive it. These same people, now retired, are milking medicaid and social security-that is a fact. This is the very problem within the United States. Citizens and policy makers rarely think with the future in mind, regardless of how much they may claim they do. Our government, just as all governments, are one big ponzi scheme and I think were beginning to see one collapse---european union. When a government spends more than it takes in, it fails. Very simple. The only reason the United States is still going is because they keep allowing money to be created and multiplied out of literally nothing. Eventually it will collapse, and when it does, there will be turmoil. It will take each generation, beginning with ours, longer to retire in part due to medicaid, social sec, and welfare, to the point where people will be forced to work till they die. I wish I could say the future for the United States is bright, but thats just a fantasy. Weve woken up....
Education is not fucked. American teenagers are fucking lazy, and their priorities are screwed up.
Agreed. Why work hard when your parents will buy you everything and you can spend all your time on your fantasy sports team or looking at facebook pics.
As for social security/medicare/medicaid, even state pensions, we are royally fucked. No way we can pay off unfunded liabilities. The State will have to either issue debt to pay these off, and default, or not make the payouts to retirees (in essence a default). Social Security is a fucking ponzi scheme created by our most tyrannical leader to buy votes for the present with cash from the future. At some point it will crash. It will not be good.
All the major countries are worrying about social security. One of the reasons that US pushed the bubble up until 2006-2007 while actually it can be bursted in mid-1990s.
I don't believe its the teenager/kids fault. Education begins at home. Its the parents fault for not teaching the kids about reward and punishment because as you put it "why work hard when your parents will buy your everything".
Too many parents thinking their kids are "unique and special" flowers who will conquer the world. Thats why you have kids that are disillusioned as they realize their habits and teachings aren't enough to succeed in the real world. And why you have people graduating with photography majors and a $100K in student debt like the other thread.
Kids? No. Teenagers? Yes.
My mom just mentioned a situation which shows parenting problems very nicely:
Girl (barely) graduates from high school. Bombed the SAT. No college for her and is prepping for a career in nothing. The graduation party involved limos, custom dresses etc. Sad part is its not a nouveau rich family either, mom is a middle school teacher.
You don't instill values of hard work and goal-setting when you are throwing a party for barely jumping over the most menial hurdle in life.
Puss, where do teenagers come from if not kids? If they don't learn those values as kids, where are they supposed to get them from as teenagers?
WSO... duhhhh
I never was a prestige whore until the day I discovered WSO. Now it's KKR or bust!
whoever brings up the SS topic is going for a political suicide.
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