French workers protest plan to increase retirement age
In the US at least, the original retirement age, set in 1935, was 65. The average life expectancy was 60. Today in the US it&#x27;s 77.8. In France, it&#x27;s 82.<p>As populations age into a higher percentage of retirees, the system is forced to cope with more people who are purely consumers, and contribute nothing to the system. In a post-scarcity world, this would not be a problem, but currently with the oldest generations owning the vast majority of wealth and real estate, and with college, housing, and many costs of living having inflated 3-20x since the older generations were younger, it is a problem.<p>Giving old people money for free when their 10x more valuable houses inflate the market, keeping the younger generation from being able to start families, is a killing blow for population growth and the livelihoods of younger generations.