This morning, I was on the Today programme to
discuss my new paper on how to make older people work longer (which I wrote about over at ConservativeHome). It’s all about
incentives. Radical measures are necessary, including raising the state pension
age faster, reduce employment protection among older people, and in the long
run move towards a privatised system with compelled savings (similar to Australia’s
pension system).
In the programme, I was asked how likely
reform is given that old people vote. It’s true that the representative
democratic process is a problem here. Rent seeking soon-to-be pensioners try to stifle any
attempts to fundamentally reform the system. But keeping the status quo will
just lump over the problem on my generation, who will be taxed up to our ears
in order to pay for the increasing state pension expenditures under the current
system, with declining economic growth as a result. Doing nothing is not an
option – we clearly need courageous politicians to take on the challenge rather
than worrying about the prospects of getting re-elected.
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