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Guess it depends on whose economic sense one considers.  There are many respected economists who subscribe to the idea of non-retiring older people plugging up employment pipelines. Let us not confuse declining birth rates in some countries (Japan is an excellent example as are many European nations) with the need for old people to keep working.

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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I was interested to hear one caller say that "retirement seems to be a uniquely American idea..." He might be interested to check out the ideas about retirement in other Western countries; people retire younger and in some cases on much more liberal government programs than we do in many. Also expressed was the idea that, "retirement may not be good for people. People need a sense of fulfillment." Now, that IS uniquely American, the idea that fulfillment comes only from working.  This idea also disregards the many, many people in physically demanding jobs who can't physically continue their work after 60 or so.  Tough to get anyone to hire you to do more sedentary work after a life time of logging, farming or constuction.

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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