If everything THEY say is wrong, like -- We MUST Raise the Retirement Age
-- Then the opposite, must be Right!
MAYBE, we actually need to -- LOWER the Retirement Age ???
Cash for Geezers? Lower the Retirement Age to 55 Now!
Thom Hartmann August 25, 2009
One of the most powerful forms of stimulus we could apply to our economy right now would be to lower the current Social Security retirement age from the current 65-67 to 55, and increase the benefits back to where they were in inflation-adjusted 1960s dollars by raising them between 10 to 20 percent (so people could actually live, albeit modestly, on Social Security).
The right-wing reaction to this, of course, will be to say that with fewer people working and more people drawing benefits, it would bankrupt Social Security and destroy the economy. But history shows the exact reverse.
Instead, it would eliminate the problem of unemployment in the United States. All those Boomers retiring would make room in the labor market for all the recent high-school and college graduates who are now finding it so hard to find a job.
If enough Boomers left the job market, it would even flip the current dynamic of too-many-people-chasing-too-few-jobs upside down, and create a tight labor markets. Tight labor markets drive up wages.
And as wages go up, tax revenues – which are paying for Social Security (among other things) – would increase.
Talk about 'driving demand'!
Talk about a two-fer! Put People back to work AND solve the Revenue Crisis.
Demand-side, Bottom-up, progressive Economists think so.
When you've got a 'Structural Problem' in the Economy, you'll probably need a 'Structural Solution' if you are to solve it, in less time, than say a 'Lost Decade' ...
James Galbraith's Radical Plan to Create Jobs: LOWER the Retirement Age
by Peter Gorenstein in Newsmakers, Politics -- Nov 04, 2010
[...] "We have a large cohort of people who have been displaced by a major economic crisis," he says. "It's utterly ridiculous to make them subsist on unemployment insurance, when in fact, there aren't going to be jobs. This is not a temporary condition for a great many people."
Galbraith claims lowering the retirement age would solve that problem. It's a win-win, he says, allowing those nearing retirement age to gain Social Security benefits to help pay the bills; and more importantly, it opens up the labor market to younger workers currently crowded out by the large number of 50 and 60 year old workers vying for the same jobs.
Even demanding progressive Congress Reps, think so too.
The best Jobs Creation program -- is allowing early Retirement Benefits.
Lawmaker wants retirement age lowered to 60 for six months
by Michael O'Brien, thehill.com -- 02/21/10
[...] The two-time presidential candidate's proposal calls for a six-month period during which people could retire at the age of 60. The program would be funded by $10 billion in bailout funds, and $5 billion in stimulus funds.
"It's voluntary and the idea is that since we already know that 70 percent of people are taking early retirement at age 62, this idea that I have would say that -- just for a limited period, on a voluntary basis only -- if people want to take retirement at age 60, we calculate that maybe a million people would take that, and create a million job openings and enable people to move into the workforce, while others would have their retirement secure," Kucinich said during an appearance on Fox News.
Could've, would've, should've ...
If everything THEY say is wrong, like -- We only want to raise the Retirement age by 2 Years
-- Then the opposite, must be Right!
MAYBE, we actually need to -- LOWER the Retirement Age BY TWO Years!
That would 'CREATE JOBS' -- Instantly! at least a Million of them.
And, the lower the Retirement Age -- the MORE Jobs you could create.
Talk about a 'Full Employment' program!
For the Unemployed Over 50, Fears of Never Working Again
by Mutoko Rich, nytimes -- Sep 19, 2010
[...] Of the 14.9 million unemployed, more than 2.2 million are 55 or older. Nearly half of them have been unemployed six months or longer, according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate in the group — 7.3 percent — is at a record, more than double what it was at the beginning of the latest recession.
After other recent downturns, older people who lost jobs fretted about how long it would take to return to the work force and worried that they might never recover their former incomes. But today, because it will take years to absorb the giant pool of unemployed at the economy’s recent pace, many of these older people may simply age out of the labor force before their luck changes.
Afterall, it's not like anyone is beating a path to your door, when you're over 50, and out of work.
It seems 'the opposite' is happening there too, sadly.
If your over 50 and unemployed -- you may find yourself 'defacto retired' whether you like it or not.
That's some Free Market solution -- creating the cast outs, the left behinds ... while raking in ever more money for the boardroom directors and CEOs in exchange. They are now sitting on Trillions -- 'afraid to hire'.
Only in America! -- where the Free Market left to its own devices will solve all our ills ... or so the Theory goes.