> The underlying problem Germany has is the population dynamics. Actually the fact that wages stopped rising along with the economy as a whole (e.g. less of th

> The underlying problem Germany has is the population dynamics. Actually the fact that wages stopped rising along with the economy as a whole (e.g. less of the generated profits get payed out as wages) seems to play an important role, too. The retirees represent a cost in absolute numbers (e.g. they are entitled to pension benefits of a certain size). The workforce is collectivly paying out the retirees with a share of their income. That system works fine even with a declining retiree/workforce ratio (which actually shrinks since at least the 1960s) as long as real wages continue to grow along with GDP and productivity. Which they don't, and that's a problem.