Will Boomers Reduce Big Gov't? (Corporate Profits, unemployment, Congress, wages)

[Motion]

The study, to be published in July, finds that the retirement of the Baby Boom generation will force far-reaching adjustments in the way the economy works. Forecasts for everything from growth and employment to corporate profits and interest rates will have to be recast...

iht


Social Security's long-term financing gap is due mainly to the aging of the baby boomers, rising life expectancy and the fact that fewer workers will be paying Social Security taxes to support more retirees.

usatoday

For those of you who believe in smaller government(like me),won't the retirement of the boomers move America towards less big government because the retiring boomers will affect tax revenue that would normaly go to gov't funded social programs and services so America will now need to find ways of handling issues of poverty,healthcare and other services that are more market and private sector oriented?

[saganista]

Originally Posted by Motion

For those of you who believe in smaller government(like me),won't the retirement of the boomers move America towards less big government because the retiring boomers will affect tax revenue that would normaly go to gov't funded social programs and services so America will now need to find ways of handling issues of poverty,healthcare and other services that are more market and private sector oriented?

That's not how it works at the federal level. There is no actual connection between receipts and expenditures. Congress appropriates whatever it wants, and agencies spend whatever is appropriated to them. Meanwhile, on the other side of town, if total revenues are insufficient to cover total expenditures, Treasury simply borrows the difference. End of story. In theory, if the resulting debt were to pile up to unmanageable levels, Congress would get around to enacting a tax increase or some other form of revenue enhancement, but it is not under any obligation to do so. Personal income taxes, btw, only cover about a third of total expenditures as it is.

The retirement of the baby boomers does impact upon a number of variables. One is the supply of labor. Shrinking availability of workers will put pressure on wages which will tend to undercut profits. There is one obvious solution -- increased immigration.

[TnHilltopper]

Originally Posted by saganista

The retirement of the baby boomers does impact upon a number of variables. One is the supply of labor. Shrinking availability of workers will put pressure on wages which will tend to undercut profits. There is one obvious solution -- increased immigration.

Or increase the length of the work week and hours per day.

I recently recall a prominent politician noting that a lady in the audience was working three jobs, and only in America are things so good that you can afford to work three jobs.

[texdav]

I think the biggest changes we will see are because of the dramatic increases in life expectancy in the coming years.That will mean that older people will be working for extended years and if you look at wealth in this country those over forty now control most of it.If you look at the other western countires workforce what you see is a crisis in unemployment in under 30 yerars of age. The average for some time has been at about 30%.If you look at the shoratge of workers it mostly is i te fields of science and math. I teh 90's so many went into tech IT fields that they are becoming a dime as dozen.manufacturing jobs have been on a decline for twenty years and on a fast track the last ten years.This is very similar to what as happened in many western countries while countries like India have done a better job of educating peole in the fields most needed here.Next time you are at a hospital listen to the accents of the doctors and much of the staff.To me it seems that our schools are not preparing students to go into these higher paying and in demand fields at college.Look at the drop out rate especailly in major cities and it looks worse.

[saganista]

Originally Posted by TnHilltopper

Or increase the length of the work week and hours per day.

Or you could increase recruitment from the retired themselves, many of whom will be available for work, just not as much of it as before. But it's still hard to draw up a scenario for the future that does not include significant incentives toward more immigration. The "seal the border" folks are likely to be in for a disappointment.

Originally Posted by TnHilltopper

I recently recall a prominent politician noting that a lady in the audience was working three jobs, and only in America are things so good that you can afford to work three jobs.

Yes, yes, and food is so plentiful that some of us need only eat one or two meals a day, and we are such a healthy people that tens of millions of us simply do not have health insurance at all...

[UpperPeninsulaRon]

Originally Posted by saganista

The retirement of the baby boomers does impact upon a number of variables. One is the supply of labor. Shrinking availability of workers will put pressure on wages which will tend to undercut profits. There is one obvious solution -- increased immigration.

You are kidding, right?

[Blue Grass Fever]

Originally Posted by saganista

Or you could increase recruitment from the retired themselves, many of whom will be available for work, just not as much of it as before. But it's still hard to draw up a scenario for the future that does not include significant incentives toward more immigration. The "seal the border" folks are likely to be in for a disappointment.

Or you could just eliminate the federal income tax on labor, which would be a huge boost of morale to laborers across the nation.

Immigration i hope you speak of is the legal kind.

[odinloki1]

Originally Posted by TnHilltopper

Or increase the length of the work week and hours per day.

I recently recall a prominent politician noting that a lady in the audience was working three jobs, and only in America are things so good that you can afford to work three jobs.

whoohoo work 3 jobs and 120 hours a week,

That inspired a song

Proud to be an American, where I work myself to death
Where I have no health insurance, and I could get rich making meth
and I proudly stand up and admit, I'd like to see my family
but I can't see them cause I have to work, so God bless the free market!!!!

[odinloki1]

Originally Posted by Motion

For those of you who believe in smaller government(like me),won't the retirement of the boomers move America towards less big government because the retiring boomers will affect tax revenue that would normaly go to gov't funded social programs and services so America will now need to find ways of handling issues of poverty,healthcare and other services that are more market and private sector oriented?

the market will never handle poverty because theres no money in it
as wealth becomes increasingly concentrated in the top 1%, charity will decrease as well

given the power that corporate america wields, there should be little, if any, reduction in power of the government otherwise we may as well just start calling ourselves the United States of Halliburton, or the United States of Wal-Mart

[saganista]

Originally Posted by UpperPeninsulaRon

You are kidding, right?

Do the math. The boomers aren't dying, just retiring. Hence, population growth rolls right along as does the increase in demand that results from larger numbers. Depending on how they decide to time their retirements, boomer departures from the workforce could result in periods of negative growth in the domestic labor supply, and in any case, net growth in that supply will be depressed. Rising demand for workers against a steady or declining supply. What do you suppose will happen? What do you suppose will happen as the result of that?