Kerby Anderson

For decades, we have heard that the U.S. needs to be more like Europe. But as I have documented in previous commentaries, if we were more like Europe, we would have less liberal abortion policies and fewer transgender surgeries.

We can learn some lessons from European countries like Denmark. The Danish government just raised its retirement age to 70 for Danes born in 1971 or later. This was due to a reform passed years ago that ties the retirement age to average life expectancy at age 60. This factors in the reality that people are living longer than when government retirement programs were first instituted.

More than thirty years ago, I wrote the book, Signs of Warning, Signs of Hope. One of the chapters on a crisis of security documented increasing life expectancy at birth and the increasing percentage of people living over age 65. It was inevitable that the U.S. Social Security system would run out of money in the future. A recent Wall Street Journal editorial predicts Social Security to be insolvent in 2033 and predicts the checks then will suddenly be 21 percent smaller.

America’s politicians won’t follow Denmark’s lead for three reasons. First, later retirement would not be welcome by people who work in physically demanding professions. I have been a janitor and have dug ditches and worked in a machine shop. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to have to make it to age 70 to retire. Second, no politician wants to touch “the third rail” of American politics.

Third, there is an easier answer: print more dollars. My previous commentaries on the book The Big Print remind us that politicians will always take the easy way out, even if it means lots of inflation.