You call that booming?
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You call that booming?
The Wall Street Journal outlines the latest way that Baby Boomers are hurting America -- although it's not their fault for a change:
Older workers, who typically fared better than their younger counterparts in recessions, have been hit just as hard by layoffs this time around. As a result, the fraction of people 65 or older who are working has leveled off after a long period of growth. As of July, it stood at 15.9%, down from 16.3% in mid-2008.
With the overall unemployment rate hovering at 9.5%, many older workers have now found themselves at the back of the line to return to the work force. "Many employers seem to think it is not worth their time or effort to train me in a position," says Kathleen McCabe, 59, a former apartment manager in Tulsa, Okla., who has been out of work since April 2009. "They assume I will leave for retirement soon."
The diminishing work prospects will require many older folks to make do with less—a discouraging outlook for firms hoping to sell them everything from restaurant meals to cars.
As of 2008, the latest data available, people aged 65 to 74 were spending 12.3% less than they did ten years earlier, in inflation-adjusted terms.
Maybe they blew it all on fresh-faded jeans and Grateful Dead boxed sets? Seriously, the economic ramifications are huge, but so are the political ones. We've already seen from the Tea Party -- the vast majority of whom are Baby Boomers or just a tad behind -- that the time quotient of early retirement, planned or not, coupled with anger can be a potent political force. I expect we'll see a lot more of these enraged Boomers descending on Washington soon -- if they are able to afford the bus fare.
Not to mention their desire to return to a U.S. that the government has taken away from them, which seems to me to be a mix of the Wild West, 1920s jazz halls, and the whiskey rebellion instead of any real time.— HandNik- Not to worry, Will. All those retiring Tea Partiers will simply refuse their Social Security and Medicare - because, you know, they hate big government and don't want to be dependent on handouts. Budget problems will be gone.— Talking point sleuth
Comment removed.- Dunno, TPS. They might actually accept the Medicare - provided, of course, that the government keeps its hands off.— Billy Ray Winthorpe
- Good point, Billy Ray, and also, of course, provided that those death panels don't execute them first.— Talking point sleuth
- If money were taken out of your paycheck on a mandatory basis for your whole working life and you have the wild expectation of actually receiving the benefits the money was suppsoed to pay for, you're asking for a handout?— RG
- Notice how RG rationalizes depending on big government - even though that big government's entitlements are ruining the country? Next RG will explain why, as an extremist libertarian, he wouldn't turn away a big government firefighter who came to extinguish a fire in his house. And then he'll explain why he would accept help from a big government police officer to extract his family from a car accident. Finally, he'll explain why he doesn't mind driving on roads that were built by big government.— Talking point sleuth
- And TPS conviently forgets where big gubmint gets its funding. Gosh forbid someone actually wants a return ffor paying their taxes. What an extreme position. And the firefighters in my town are volunteer. Roadwork is sometimes performed by private sector contractors, and only paid for by taxes and user fees. But don't let these facts stop your little uninformed screed.— RG
- A conversation I'd like to see: RG explaining to an African American big government fire fighter why the government has no stake in preventing a store owner from denying the fire fighter service because he's black, but then turn around and expect the fire fighter to risk his life saving the proprietor's business.— Talking point sleuth
- ===}}} And the firefighters in my town are volunteer. {{{=== Right. Ok. So you and your oblivious horde are attending a Phillies game. A bomb scare is called in. You turn the emergency services away - explaining that in your town, fire fighters are volunteers. And of course, you only drive on road built by private contractors (who are paid by big government). Too funny.— Talking point sleuth
- "You turn the emergency services away - explaining that in your town, fire fighters are volunteers." Why would I be in charge of turning away the emergency services? Its the Phillies stadium. Seriously, are you unable to even concoct a logical hypothetical?— RG
- "why the government has no stake in preventing a store owner" Simply, the government really shouldnt have a say in how people use their own property. Allowing them to dictate how property is used has led us to fun stuff like eminent domain. Which is now disproportionately hurting AAs in Montgomery, AL as the local gov is taking their property without their permission and without fair compensation. I'm sure a statist apologist like TPS will defend this though. http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/08/03/montgomerys-new-civil-rights-struggle/#ixzz0wjq6qHy0— RG
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- "who are paid by big government" Who tax their citizens, pass the money through an inefficient bureacracy, and apply whats left over to the roads.— RG
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