mises.org — Social security schemes around the developed world are facing a major crisis due to greater longevity, declining retirement ages and ? lo and behold ? below-replacement fertility rates. Unfortunately, low fertility rates do not merely hasten the insolvency of public pay-as-you-go schemes, but lack of offspring also portends the end of nations.
Jan 24, 2007 View in Crawl 4
jlivingstonrJan 24, 2007
Excellent analysis with a very Hayekian flavor.
curthowlandJan 24, 2007
The article is Western-centric, but the rule holds in Asia as well.The Japanese government has been decrying the crisis of infertility for decades, loudly proclaiming how there aren't going to be enough young workers to pay all the old peoples government retirement costs.It was sad, really, because it was easy to see that the Japanese really love their children. Preschool and daycare are done _beautifully_. (of course, once they hit the Prussian model government schools they're crushed as individuals) Still, while I lived there I would have had no objections toward contributing what I could toward the birth-rate. Too bad the opportunity didn't come up.Rather than the one-child-per-family rule in red China, what they really need is Social Security taxation. Oh, and "rewarding" careers for women, so they don't feel any need to get married in the first place. The latter is complete foreign to their society, so maybe the former will work.
brokekneckJan 25, 2007
Was a nice read. Pretty much sums up why social security. We are not having the kids that can put into it. It's a bad idea from the start. Then when it add medicade welfare and all the other junk popped on top. Its a failing system sadly.
mutatronJan 25, 2007
There is no fertility crisis, but there is a population crisis.
pieterdevosJan 27, 2007
Mahdava texti!