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Don't forget Portugal! There's a major problem unravelling. A large amount of the population live a lot longer than were expected ~90 years ago when the curren

Don't forget Portugal! There's a major problem unravelling. A large amount of the population live a lot longer than were expected ~90 years ago when the current welfare state system became widespread across Europe. How do you pay pensions in the current economic climate to people that have been retired for 25+ years, who were expected to largely die 25 years ago? In the Greece situation, how do you do this when a large amount of the populace actively avoid paying their fair share of tax? How do you do it when nearly 30%[1] of GDP is exports based around imports and your accounts are frozen and you can't pay suppliers? It's an economic situation that hasn't be witnessed before. All this is before you throw Germany into the mix, who have a _lot_ riding on how this all plays out. The world economic situation is in a very interesting place at the moment - Greece is only the tip of the iceberg. Look at Puerto Rico, look at China, hell look at the UK and how it's economy is currently stacked. Suddenly, overnight, the government won't support "free" TV licences for people aged 75+! The global economic situation at the moment is very interesting. [1] - https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/grc/ https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/grc/

stefantalpalaru 11y ago
You're right. Portugal looks actually a bit worse than Greece at roughly the same size of the economy: http://www.economist.com/content/global_debt_clock http://www.economist.com/content/global_debt_clock Maybe it was too close geographically to the big players and that's how it avoided being made the first example :-) BTW, besides people in developed countries living longer we also have the problem of fewer children in each new generation. Not even immigration can balance the low birth rate in Italy, for example. Right now we have only one third of the population working and supporting the other two thirds and the percentage of active people keeps on shrinking. When will it become unsustainable? What will the Italian government do then? > The global economic situation at the moment is very interesting. Way too interesting for my taste. And the sea level rise will make it even more so. I'd rather read about stuff like this in dystopian novels instead of living it...
anabis 11y ago
> There's a major problem unravelling. A large amount of the population live a lot longer than were expected ~90 years ago when the current welfare state system became widespread across Europe. I consider it an infinitely smaller problem than people dying. The new old are healthier to boot! Many of them can work if needed.

stefantalpalaru 11y ago

You're right. Portugal looks actually a bit worse than Greece at roughly the same size of the economy: http://www.economist.com/content/global_debt_clock http://www.economist.com/content/global_debt_clock Maybe it was too close geographically to the big players and that's how it avoided being made the first example :-) BTW, besides people in developed countries living longer we also have the problem of fewer children in each new generation. Not even immigration can balance the low birth rate in Italy, for example. Right now we have only one third of the population working and supporting the other two thirds and the percentage of active people keeps on shrinking. When will it become unsustainable? What will the Italian government do then? > The global economic situation at the moment is very interesting. Way too interesting for my taste. And the sea level rise will make it even more so. I'd rather read about stuff like this in dystopian novels instead of living it...

anabis 11y ago

> There's a major problem unravelling. A large amount of the population live a lot longer than were expected ~90 years ago when the current welfare state system became widespread across Europe. I consider it an infinitely smaller problem than people dying. The new old are healthier to boot! Many of them can work if needed.