Monday, April 27, 2015

Misleading life expectancy statistics

Also, many employers won't hire older workers.
And many of the jobs available to older people require physical capabilities that they might not have.

http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2015/04/paul-krugman-zombies-of-2016.html

Some bad ideas just won't die:

Zombies of 2016, by Paul Krugman, Commentary, NY Times: Last week,...Chris Christie ... gave a speech in which he tried to position himself as a tough-minded fiscal realist. In fact, however, his supposedly tough-minded policy idea was a classic zombie — an idea that should have died long ago in the face of evidence that undermines its basic premise, but somehow just keeps shambling along.

...Mr. Christie ... thought he was being smart and brave by proposing that we raise the age of eligibility for both Social Security and Medicare to 69. Doesn’t this make sense now that Americans are living longer?

No, it doesn’t..., almost all the rise in life expectancy has taken place among the affluent. The bottom half of workers,... who rely on Social Security most, have seen their life expectancy at age 65 rise only a bit more than a year since the 1970s. Furthermore,... many ... still have to perform manual labor.

And while raising the retirement age would impose a great deal of hardship, it would save remarkably little money. ...

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http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/workingpapers/wp108.html#wp108chart3

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