Everyone has been bemoaning the catastrophe that is the baby boomers retiring. How do we provide benefits for this huge group of people. Last week during the Tom Sullivan show on the radio I heard a different approach and fear. The caller made the point that the boomers are also the biggest consumer group. What's the problem with the boomers buying the most? I've found as I get older there is less and less stuff I need to buy. If I need something for a project odds are I have it in my garage and don't need to go spend money. Now this isn't just me , so we have this largest section of the population without the need to buy. In a consumer driven economy how do we lower unemployment while buying less.
It seems like a valid point but someone also has to fill all these jobs the boomers are vacating.
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i hear that many jobs are being eliminated as they are being vacated by retirees. i have a friend who had to go to part time & then retire early because her job was cut. maybe there won't be nearly as many jobs to fill as there are boomers leaving the work force.
ReplyDeleteDivers and Sundry, it really is hard to say what will happen each industry has different needs. I work in manufacturing and the jobs that come open are almost impossible to find skilled workers to fill the openings.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we could find a way to stop being a consumer driven economy...
ReplyDeletebob, as long as we press college as the goal for every student we won't get folks trained for lots of the jobs out there. does everybody need a college education? i don't think so.
ReplyDelete& i agree with you, jockeystreet, that it'd be nice not to depend on constantly increasing consumer demand to drive the economy. maybe we could quit out-sourcing the jobs & target foreign consumers instead.
There is Cleveland radio show called Get Rich Slow that advocates not spending money and adding to consumer driven economy. They also made the point that we shouldn't tell this to everyone. The industrial revolution put us on the path to a consumer economy and on a group level I don't see how you turn back.
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