Europe’s current predicament has been long in the making. An aging population with a preference for free time and job security over earnings ushered in years of lackluster economic and productivity growth. Then came the one-two punch of the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s protracted war in Ukraine. By upending global supply chains and sending the prices of energy and food rocketing, the crises aggravated ailments that had been festering for decades.
Wall Street Journal 7-18-23
Yes, this paragraph is out of context, but the highlighted sentence caught my eye. I think about the controversy in America over time off from work, the desire by some for earlier and earlier retirement, the Social Security retirement age, dissatisfaction with work, etc.
The U.S. population age 65 and over grew nearly five times faster than the total population over the 100 years from 1920 to 2020, according to the 2020 Census.
United States is Getting Older, But Still Younger Than Many
While the share of the U.S. population age 65 and over grew, the nation remained relatively young compared to many of its peer nations in 2020.
Japan had the largest share (28.5%) of older residents. The United States ranked 34th (16.8%) among these places. Many European countries, along with Canada and Hong Kong, had higher shares of older residents than the United States.
Where are we all headed? Where will our new priorities and values take us?
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
The message is an oxymoron. We might need a new paradigm. I have mentioned before, maybe ad nauseam, that the admirable quality of living within your means and saving for retirement is, literally, “not for everyone.”
Fallacy of composition examples…
1. If someone stands up from their seat at a cricket match, they can see better. Therefore, if everyone stands up, they can all see better.
2. Some people can become millionaires with the right business concept. Therefore, if everyone has the right business concept, everyone will become a millionaire.
3. If a runner runs faster, he can win the race. Therefore, if all the runners run faster, they can all win the race.
…….
If everyone lives within their means, America might have lackluster economic growth also, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
It’s difficult to economically compare countries with very different cultures. It very well may be that we are burning ourselves out in the pursuit of full employment, and more importantly, unnecessarily using up, literally wasting resources.
It may be the time, or past the time, for shorter work weeks and earlier retirement.
And, according to Jerry Brown, “more welfare, not less.”*
*social welfare. Government already spends fifty percent more on corporate subsidies than it does on social welfare.
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While it is true that many immigrants are here for opportunities. They run various stores and cafes, do a lot of grunt work and pay sales taxes and income taxes although much work is done for cash. It is not totally true they are more ambitious than native workers. When you take a job for less pay than a native worker was making, that doesn’t mean you are more ambitious, it just means you took a job away from someone else. Window washing is a good example, roofing is another.
I’m not sure the no social security argument will hold up over time because they will be recognized by the government at some point. Welfare benefits are available, schooling is available for all children. Drugs and crime are in the immigrant communities as well. Incarceration is not cheap. I live in Georgia and know first hand of work for cash and often see the pictures and names of arrestees for murder, assault, and other crimes. The Hispanic names and likenesses were not this prevalent 25 years ago. Most are upstanding but there are bad eggs in the bunch.
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Immigrants, including illegals are vital to the agriculture and construction industries. Their crime rate is no worse than the legal immigrant or general population. Indeed, there are bad eggs in every bunch, including those of us whose families have been here 180 years.
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My point was not to disparage the work that immigrants do, especially in the agriculture and construction trades. I also did not mean to imply that they are more likely to be criminals than native born. My intent was to present another side of the argument that we can take in as many people who can cross the border and there will only be happiness and joy for all in the tremendously improved economy and all our troubles will be over. My position is our troubles will be here whether we take in a thousand or ten million.
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The US birth rate is 1.7 = We are not even replacing mom and dad. But a bigger problem is the cost for high school and college grads to start a household of their own. Rent inflation seeking higher profits. The apartment that I rented in 1974 was $130 per month adjusted for inflation = $851, but the rent today is over $1,600. Children are living with parents and other family members instead of having a place of their own. What does it mean for the economy – less economic activity, billions of dollars not spent. Also, many of the people coming to the US have low skills and may not even of graduated from high school. They will continue to be a drain on tax dollars across the country.
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I shudder to think of one billion Americans and some of the immigrants would be better left back in their country. Not all come here with clean hands.
The issue of Europe isn’t all due to the Ukrainian-Russian war and the Covid shut down. Their government leadership is rushing them into green energy before it is feasible and their problems with the common government have been talked about for years. I believe all that takes precedence over blaming the rank and file for being older and wanting time over money. The lackluster years of slow economic growth aren’t due to people nearing retirement age.
I can’t see their problems as being predictive of this nation and the problems here.
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Immigration is the life blood of America and is the secret sauce of our success. Sure not every immigrant is perfect, but overall they far outperform native born Americans in almost every metric (higher education, less crime, more business success, more innovation, etc).
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America can’t afford more ILLEGAL immigration. Our politicians want to give us everything for free to buy votes and adding another 666 million people getting free stuff will not help. If you want more citizens maybe ban abortions and free birth control. Does the Catholic religion still frown on using birth control? In theory, that will solve the problem of the lack of younger workers.
But, you may have a point. Just like my great grandparents who came here legally, they wanted to work instead of living off the government because it wasn’t allowed back then. You had to have a job lined up before entering the country.
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Hi Dwayne, you have a valid point about how bad it would be if all those potential immigrants were not contributing. Fortunately, there have been some studies that show that immigrants contribute more in tax revenue than they take in government benefits. That is why it is so good for America https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/making-sense/4-myths-about-how-immigrants-affect-the-u-s-economy
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Even illegal immigrants provide a net economic benefit to the U.S. They help fund SS with no chance of a benefit, they at jobs we don’t want, the pay sales and other taxes. This is not saying I favor illegal immigrants, but facts are facts.
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There are alternative facts now, though. Thank you, Donald Trump. FAIR says immigrants cost $150 billion more than they contribute. Most of the studies I see agree with you, though, including CATO Institute. There are a lot of factors besides taxes/benefits. Also, there are bad guys coming in, for sure, but I understand the crime rate of immigrants is much lower than for citizens.
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The US has a notable advantage over Europe and Asia with our openness to immigration. We should double down, like Matt Yglesias writes in his book One Billion Americans. Best way to solve the social security solvency issue too!
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The US has a notable advantage over Europe and Asia with our openness to immigration. We should double down, like Matt Yglesias writes in his book One Billion Americans. Best way to solve the social security solvency issue too!
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Only if you restrict immigration to those that can actually support themselves, which is not what is happening at this point.
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“Legal” Immigration speech by “Teddy” Roosevelt
Where are the politicians that think of America first, today? Nowhere to be found.
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