Why More Immigrants Are An Answer to the Coming Boomer Entitlement Mess

[one...two...tree 2,762]

By Robert Reich

I was born in 1946, just when the boomer wave began. Bill Clinton was born that year, too. So was George W. So was Laura Bush. And Ken Starr (remember him?) And then, the next year, Hillary Clinton. And soon Newt Gingrich (known as "Newty" as a boy). And Cher. Why so many of us begin getting born in 1946? Simple. My father was in World War II. He came home. My mother was waiting. Ditto for the others.

Sixty years later, we boomers have a lot to be worried about because most of us plan to retire in a few years and Social Security and Medicare are on the way to going bust. I should know because I used to be a trustee of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds. Those of you who are younger than we early boomers have even more to be worried about because if those funds go bust they won't be there when you're ready to retire.

It's already starting to happen. This year Social Security will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes. The tipping point came sooner than anyone expected because the recession has kicked so many people off payrolls. But it was coming anyway. And it adds new urgency to reforming Social Security -- a task the president's commission on the nation's debt is focusing on.

So what's the answer?

Fed Chair Ben Bernanke this week listed the choices. "To avoid large and unsustainable budget deficits," he said in a speech on Wednesday, "the nation must choose among higher taxes, modifications to entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, less spending on everything else from education to defense, or some combination of the above."

Bernanke is almost certainly right about "some combination," but he leaves out one other possible remedy that should be included in that combination: Immigration.

You see, the biggest reason Social Security is in trouble, and Medicare as well, is because America is aging so fast. It's not just that so many boomers are retiring. It's also that seniors are living longer. And families are having fewer children.

Add it all up and the number of people who are working relative to the number who are retired keeps shrinking.

Forty years ago there were five workers for every retiree. Now there are three. Within a couple of decades, there will be only two workers per retiree. There's no way just two workers will be able or willing to pay enough payroll taxes to keep benefits flowing to every retiree.

This is where immigration comes in. Most immigrants are young because the impoverished countries they come from are demographically the opposite of rich countries. Rather than aging populations, their populations are bursting with young people.

Yes, I know: There aren't enough jobs right now even for Americans who want and need them. But once the American economy recovers, there will be. Take a long-term view and most new immigrants to the U.S. will be working for many decades.

Get it? One logical way to deal with the crisis of funding Social Security and Medicare is to have more workers per retiree, and the simplest way to do that is to allow more immigrants into the United States.

Immigration reform and entitlement reform have a lot to do with one another.

link

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

When an application leaks memory, you can either continue to add memory to the box and delay the crash or you can fix the app.

Boomers are a memory leak.

ps. boomers can't be restarted. a peculiarity of the human condition.

[Pooky 3,880]

Unbelievable.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Didn't Europe think the same thing? How is that working for France, et al?

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said there are more than 300 million migrants around the world today. Europe hosted the largest number of immigrants, with 70.6 million people in 2005, the latest year for which figures are available. North America, with over 45.1 million immigrants, is second, followed by Asia, which hosts nearly 25.3 million. Most of today's migrant workers come from Asia.[1]

The EU, in 2005, had an overall net gain from international migration of +1.8 million people. This accounts for almost 85% of Europe's total population growth in 2005.[24] In 2004, total 140,033 people immigrated to France. Of them, 90,250 were from Africa and 13,710 from Europe.[25] In 2005, immigration fell slightly to 135,890.[26] British emigration towards Southern Europe is of special relevance.

Spain

Spain is the most favoured European destination for Britons leaving the UK.[37] Since 2000, Spain has absorbed more than three million immigrants, growing its population by almost 10%. Immigrant population now tops over 4.5 million. According to residence permit data for 2005, about 500,000 were Moroccan, another 500,000 were Ecuadorian,[38] more than 200,000 were Romanian, and 260,000 were Colombian.[39][40] In 2005 alone, a regularisation programme increased the legal immigrant population by 700,000 people.[41]

Australia

The overall level of immigration to Australia has grown substantially during the last decade. Net overseas migration increased from 30,000 in 1993[61] to 118,000 in 2003-04.[62] The largest components of immigration are the skilled migration and family re-union programs. In recent years the mandatory detention of unauthorised arrivals by boat has generated great levels of controversy. During the 2004-05, total 123,424 people immigrated to Australia. Of them, 17,736 were from Africa, 54,804 from Asia, 21,131 from Oceania, 18,220 from United Kingdom, 1,506 from South America, and 2,369 from Eastern Europe.[46] 131,000 people migrated to Australia in 2005-06[63] and migration target for 2006-07 was 144,000.[64]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Didn't Europe think the same thing? How is that working for France, et al?

[Obama 2012 1,714]

What idiot wrote that article?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

What idiot wrote that article?

A boomer who is trying to take attention away from the real problem. Boomers.

[alienlovechild 75]

Forty years ago there were five workers for every retiree. Now there are three. Within a couple of decades, there will be only two workers per retiree. There's no way just two workers will be able or willing to pay enough payroll taxes to keep benefits flowing to every retiree.

Get it? One logical way to deal with the crisis of funding Social Security and Medicare is to have more workers per retiree, and the simplest way to do that is to allow more immigrants into the United States.

It's the way all Ponzi scams work. It works well as long there are always new suckers who buy into the scam. Ultimately, they always fail leaving late comers holding the IOUs.

[Peikko 1,575]

Social Security is not a ponzi scam - but the solution to the boomer generation bulge is definitely not more people.

It would seem though that boomers do not want to retire - they may well solve their own problem

Edited April 13, 2010 by Madame Cleo

[mawilson 2,133]

When an application leaks memory, you can either continue to add memory to the box and delay the crash or you can fix the app.

Boomers are a memory leak.

ps. boomers can't be restarted. a peculiarity of the human condition.

I like the 'memory leak' analogy.

[Pooky 3,880]

There's no way just two workers will be able or willing to pay enough payroll taxes to keep benefits flowing to every retiree.

This is where immigration comes in. Most immigrants are young because the impoverished countries they come from are demographically the opposite of rich countries. Rather than aging populations, their populations are bursting with young people.

Yes, I know: There aren't enough jobs right now even for Americans who want and need them. But once the American economy recovers, there will be. Take a long-term view and most new immigrants to the U.S. will be working for many decades.

Get it? One logical way to deal with the crisis of funding Social Security and Medicare is to have more workers per retiree, and the simplest way to do that is to allow more immigrants into the United States.

Simply put, the article is absolute b******s.

Using this kind of specious argument to justify immigration reform, when the Bill on the horizon is designed to legitimise the illegal immigrants already here, is typical political manoeuvring. The majority of these immigrants have little intention to become American consumers. The article takes no account of those immigrants who send a large portion of the money they earn back to their home countries. The article takes no account of those immigrants who use the system to take care of them and their family. The article takes no account of those immigrants whose intentions here are to challenge the way of life where they live.

And what about the higher birth rate of immigrant families? What happens when the future labor pool outstrips the available jobs and loads the entitlement pool even further? What happens when the number of immigrants begins to increase the number of Americans out of work? The author takes no account of these issues, because he knows the answer will do nothing to further his argument.

Adding immigrants is not the answer. It might delay the crash, but that is likely only to make it hurt that much more when it catches up with us.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Adding immigrants is not the answer. It might delay the crash, but that is likely only to make it hurt that much more when it catches up with us.

The only solution is to reduce the life expectancy of boomers. The sooner they die, the sooner the rest of us can move on.

[Pooky 3,880]

The only solution is to reduce the life expectancy of boomers. The sooner they die, the sooner the rest of us can move on.

We could teach them to surf and send them to the Carolinas. I hear the sharks are quite hungry this time of year.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Now yer thinking!

[justashooter 430]

SS is broke not because of the boomers, but because of all the laggards on disability.