Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

SardScroll t1_jdvn88e wrote

Reply to comment by maitreprendtout in Angry youths challenge Macron and his pension law by Quantum_II

This is what you get when you have all of the following:

a) a state mandated and funded (in the sense that the funds are not separate from the general budget) pension system

b) a population that is ever living longer, with a static retirement age (as opposed to having the retirement age linked to some percentile of life expectancy, etc. ; France has it more complicated, because it's pension system is not strictly age based but how many units of work one put in, as I understand it); otherwise this could have been happening all along in easily digestible chunks.

c) a birth rate that is lower than replacement (because that means that more and more retirees have to be supported by fewer and fewer working age people).

I guarantee something similar will happen e.g. in the US as soon as enough baby boomers die off to make it not political suicide.

15

CommercialOk7324 t1_jdy0c36 wrote

Or. Stay with me, a higher tax on the wealthy and corporations. I know: “but they pay such high taxes already!” Apparently not high enough. “They’ll flee the country!” Ah. So we placate them or they take their ball and go home.

6

WoodPear t1_jdz7fif wrote

Did Google not just fire 10,000 people like two/three months ago because they were expecting slower growth/profits? (Same deal with Facebook around the same timeframe)

Sure, they're tech workers so they can find another job more easily, but what if Walmart or McDonalds were to "take their ball and go home"?

2