Washington Post (May 11)
“Older people today seem as healthy as people who were several years younger a few decades ago. So why shouldn’t they work the same way, too?” In the U.S., the eligibility age for full social security benefits is scheduled to increase to 67 over the next decade, but a recent study suggests eligibility could reasonably be moved even higher “to somewhere between 68 and 70.”
Tags: Age, Benefits, Eligibility, Healthy, Old, Retirement, Social security, U.S., Work, Young
Wall Street Journal (October 3)
When the dust from all the debt crises settles, the “sure losers” are the young. “Virtually any political ‘solution’ on offer to the euro crisis or U.S. debt will essentially force people age zero to 35—jobs or no jobs—to spend their lifetimes paying off the rolled-over debt that bails out the politicians and guarantees benefit flows to the older half of the population, which will escape to worry-free graves before the crisis returns.”
Financial Times (July 2)
Prime Minister Noda took a step in the right direction by increasing the consumption tax. “It was right of Mr Noda to push for the reform, which lifts the 5 per cent consumption tax to 8 per cent, then 10 per cent by 2015.” By achieving the increase, he has defied “impressions that Japan’s politicians cannot get anything done.” The increase will help to narrow the revenue gap. It will also begin to redistribute wealth from older generations to younger generations.
