In the year 2050, experts predict more than 80 million Americans will be over the age of 65, or double current levels. In the same timeframe, the number of “working age” Americans – those between 18 and 64 – will rise just 17%.
In other words, the problem we have today of too few workers trying to support too many retirees is going to get worse – much worse – in the decades ahead.
The demographic realities of America’s aging population threatens to bankrupt the nation, which is already spending 22% of the federal budget on Social Security – or $773 billion in fiscal 2013.
Related: Why Incomes Could Fall For the Next 30 Years
While this is a huge problem for the country, it’s downright calamitous for the youth of America, which is facing the prospect of sharply higher taxes to pay for entitlement programs with little hope they’ll ever get to receive them personally.
That is the premise of a new college tour entitled Generational Theft, featuring Stan Druckenmiller, a legendary investor and founder of Duquesne Capital Management.
Druckenmiller has been on a crusade of sorts over the past year, emerging from his "press shy" shell to try to get the next generation aware of the catastrophic problems he sees ahead. He told Bloomberg Television:
“I am not against seniors. What I am against is current seniors stealing from future seniors... The seniors have a very, very powerful lobby."
As Thomas Friedman relays in his new column in The New York Times: Whenever Druckenmiller is challenged by seniors, who also come to his talks, that he is trying to start an intergenerational war, he has a standard reply: “No, that war already happened, and the kids lost. We’re just trying to recover some scraps for them.”
Does a new intergenerational battle really lie ahead? Will the "youth" heed his warnings? Do you agree with him? Tell us what you think:
Send an email to: thedailyticker@yahoo.com.
You can also look us up on Twitter and Facebook.
More from The Daily Ticker
Apple Could Have the Same Problem Steve Jobs Warned About 30 Years Ago
How Paper Towels Could be Key to Amazon's Growth: Will Lower Prices Follow?
The Most Important Skill of the 21st Century
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/financial-crisis-could-bankrupt-america-millennial-generation-163123756.html
Related Topics: liberace Julius Thomas Jack Nicholson Farmers Almanac Kendrick Lamar Control
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.