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> The next generation isn't being born, because their would-be parents are saying "I cannot afford to give my children as good or better of a life than I had".

> The next generation isn't being born, because their would-be parents are saying "I cannot afford to give my children as good or better of a life than I had". I'd say it's more like they're saying "I cannot afford to raise a kid given the high cost of housing and childcare" period. > 1) Get the older generation - the Baby Boomers - to work longer and rely on their stock-based savings less. A couple problems with that: 1) As BBers close to retirement (and able to retire) tend to be in higher level positions delaying retirement blocks advancement for younger people. 2) it's not always their choice when to retire - if you're laid off in your 60s you're unlikely to be able to find another job that was paying anywhere near as well as the one you had. A lot BBers are finding they don't have a lot of choice about when they're going to retire. > Import labor through immigration This is the way. Being able to attract immigrants in a demographic environment where your population is aging is a big plus for an economy. Unfortunately large parts of the electorate don't appreciate this.

lenerdenator 2y ago
1 is true, but 2 feels more like of a "well, tough" moment. Plenty of people have to take jobs that don't pay as well as they used to, and these layoffs often happen to inflate stock prices on already-profitable companies. Why do they want to inflate stock prices? Because we've made equities the sacred cow of wealth stores in this country, and the very same people who manage the BB's retirement portfolios demand it to make the number on the 401k go up. It's important to remember that these shifts did not come from nowhere. The shifts towards financial instability for the average person took place during a specific period of recent history, and people - including average people - who really should have known better, given all of the expert advice made it happen. There were very much people saying "shore up Social Security", "don't offshore manufacturing", "increase capital gains taxes", "invest in more sustainable infrastructure", "increase wages at the expense of equities prices", etc. and these people were all ignored, at least in the United States.
- UncleOxidant 2y ago
  > There were very much people saying "shore up Social Security" And there's the solution. It's not making people work longer - many can't for health reasons or due to ageism. The easy way to shore up social security is to significantly raise the wage base limit (which is currently $168,600). Double or triple that.
  - lenerdenator 2y ago
    Try telling Jerry, 62, down the street he's not getting his OASDI.
    - UncleOxidant 2y ago
      Why would increasing the amount of income that's subject to social security payroll tax deprive Jerry of his OADSI?
cmxch 2y ago
> This is the way. Being able to attract immigrants in a demographic environment where your population is aging is a big plus for an economy. Only if it isn’t used to express preference for a largely pliant/easily controlled workforce. > Unfortunately large parts of the electorate don't appreciate this. When one generation loses its manufacturing job, the next one loses it to early offshoring efforts in tech, and the current generation loses theirs to COVID era inspired offshoring, sympathy is a luxury. Give them a sizable citizens’ dividend that offsets their individualized losses, coming from immigrant-involved firms, industries, and professions.

lenerdenator 2y ago

1 is true, but 2 feels more like of a "well, tough" moment. Plenty of people have to take jobs that don't pay as well as they used to, and these layoffs often happen to inflate stock prices on already-profitable companies. Why do they want to inflate stock prices? Because we've made equities the sacred cow of wealth stores in this country, and the very same people who manage the BB's retirement portfolios demand it to make the number on the 401k go up. It's important to remember that these shifts did not come from nowhere. The shifts towards financial instability for the average person took place during a specific period of recent history, and people - including average people - who really should have known better, given all of the expert advice made it happen. There were very much people saying "shore up Social Security", "don't offshore manufacturing", "increase capital gains taxes", "invest in more sustainable infrastructure", "increase wages at the expense of equities prices", etc. and these people were all ignored, at least in the United States.

UncleOxidant 2y ago
> There were very much people saying "shore up Social Security" And there's the solution. It's not making people work longer - many can't for health reasons or due to ageism. The easy way to shore up social security is to significantly raise the wage base limit (which is currently $168,600). Double or triple that.
- lenerdenator 2y ago
  Try telling Jerry, 62, down the street he's not getting his OASDI.
  - UncleOxidant 2y ago
    Why would increasing the amount of income that's subject to social security payroll tax deprive Jerry of his OADSI?

cmxch 2y ago

> This is the way. Being able to attract immigrants in a demographic environment where your population is aging is a big plus for an economy. Only if it isn’t used to express preference for a largely pliant/easily controlled workforce. > Unfortunately large parts of the electorate don't appreciate this. When one generation loses its manufacturing job, the next one loses it to early offshoring efforts in tech, and the current generation loses theirs to COVID era inspired offshoring, sympathy is a luxury. Give them a sizable citizens’ dividend that offsets their individualized losses, coming from immigrant-involved firms, industries, and professions.