Now comes the IMF, the International Monetary Fund, telling us we all need to work longer. In the words of The Washington Post, the IMF has tough words for Western nations.
To keep the global economy on track, people in the United States and the rest of the developed world need to work longer before retiring, pay higher taxes and expect less from government. And the cheap imports lining the shelves of mega-chains such as Wal-Mart and Target? They need to be more expensive.So, I am working part time, trying to do my bit.
But, the issue is, each of the Western nations is heading toward the kind of crisis Greece♠ finds itself in right now. The solution to Greece's problem seems to require the support of the other EU nations and it is not an easy answer.
So, still working seems to be the patriotic thing to do.
Regards — Cliff
♠ To get a sense of where Greece fits in the jigsaw puzzle, it has a population of around 11.3 million (Massachusetts has 6.6 million). The Greek GDP is about $333.5 billion ($29,881 per capita). In contrast, Massachusetts had an 2007 estimated GDP of $351 billion ($47,702 per capita).
7 comments:
In a "balanced" world, the vast numbers of youthful denizens in "developing nation" are exactly the recipe to prop up the retirements of the aging boomers from the "developed" ones.
However, as I see it, the main inequity right now is that the aging boomers won't send their nest egg capital to where it'd do the most good, (and create the economic conditions to keep them well fed in their globalized retirement), nor will they seem to allow for the remainder after they pass to be put aside for the future retirements of those "third worlders" who would be working to keep them fed in their dotage. (No, we like to redistribute our wealth the old-fashioned way--to our biological children).
As long as economics remain sovereign, all these IMF ideas amount to nothing but global socialism. We need to invest American capital (what's left of it, now that Dubya's destruction of the surplus has become the model to follow) in China and elsewhere, where it'll grow along with their economies.
The real problem is that we've screwed up our own situation so badly (a la Greece) that we'll be forever trying to patch the holes in our own sinking economic ship, and, yes, retirees will have to get used to working until they drop.
How wonderfully egalitarian. And once again, we find that it is all Bush's fault. What a positively seminal conclusion. Of course, all of Clinton's actions, NAFTA, giving the entire farm away to China, and further propping up who knows how many legitimate and illegitimate regimes were "progressively altruistic." And let's completely discount the terminal damage that the current band of Keystone cops are doing in the District of Corruption. While Rome is turning to ash, the political perfumed princes are arguing over "principle" when it ought to be over principal."
And to those who would suggest that those of us who paid faithfully into SS believing the nightmare born out of another Democrat socialist dream, I would ask, why has the failure of the SS promise suddenly become MY fault. Or could we simply say that this is one MORE example of the ineptitude and profound impotence of Federal government's ability to managage anything greater than their own paychecks?
And while we are talking about America's seniors needing to work longer and expect less, I would pose the question...work longer doing what???? The pump is no longer functional. We've off shored nearly everything we ever produced or dreamt of producing. We can sell lemonade to ourselves from our bankrupt lemonade stand.
And why is Greece our problem?? Seems we have problems because we are funding everyone else's problems. If we stopped even 25% of our "donations" to second and third world countries...we could pay off the debts that make up our domestic problems.
And send money to China??? Come on Kad......are you not reading the journals and "news" media??? If we send any more to China, we will be sending them the entire paycheck. Why don't we just cede the entire country to China?
Our problems are completely attributable to our gullibility to every snakeoil politician that has soiled our government for over a half a century....and the promise is always the same....elect me and I'll take good care of you and give you everything you want.
We are the classic "nanny state" but have long been the "NINNY state" as well.
I am sick and tired of being told that I "earned" something and then simultaneously being shamed because I take it. Well....I PAID for what I EARNED.....so naff off.
There's no one to pay Greece's debt, because they all stopped having children. 1.37 per a woman, much lower then the replacement rate of 2.1 children. My cousin I believe is returning back to America with kids and husband in tow, while my 2nd cousins born/living in Greece about my age are neither married or have children. Who knows they might immigrate here.
Meanwhile I'm biting the bullet and will soon start buying meat/poultry from local farms. It costs double, but we shouldn't be eating that much meat anyways. Start somewhere to buy locally, because nothing manufactured is.
Retirees should not be cast as living off the young, as many contribute free labor through volunteer efforts, as well as often being care-takers of the grandkids. And by them not continuing to work, there has to be some relief to the job market with so many "young" currently unemployed.
I don't have the moment but JoeS is right, a significant number of children still are not in 'daycare' but are cared by a family member.
???
NE, Dubya blew up the surplus. Do you not prefer to remember this? Is that your problem?
As for NAFTA, (it being the one thing that enables some North American production to compete with Asian), are you saying we should be against NAFTA, or against keeping up with the Chinese?
And, regarding Greece, if you'll read carefully, I said nothing about bailing them out--only that our economic situation will soon be very similar to theirs as our imbalance with China continues.
And, finally, as for China, as you so completely misconstrue: I am pointing out that simultaneously borrowing from them and buying from them are the exact things that are ruining us. This is COMPLETELY different from investing in China, as is my suggestion.
The article is pretty straightforward--we're aging, and we have no younger workforce to pay for our retirements. China (and a lot of other "undeveloped" places) is younger, and has a lot of appetite to invest. This, if it were all inside one sovereign system, would be a very healthy and symbiotic thing. However, because it is outside a single sovereign system, it will likely sink us both. (Imagine what will happen to China when we default).
People need to use their heads, and not their xenophobic hearts.
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