JPY

Well Q, you don't want to take my proposals to Mauldin too seriously because they aint going to happen. They simply highlight the extent of our debt and deficit problems in US and UK.

As for younger generations looking after their parents that's a very quaint old fashioned idea but have you noticed the opposite is happening. This is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Most boomers I know are having to finance deposits for their children to step onto the housing ladder. Then help to feed and educate the grandchildren. This money comes out of their retirement savings which earn hardly any interest. Can you see where all this leading ? Its not a question of retirees begrudging help to the younger generations.

You have to come up with different ideas to mend the debt issue, the deficit issue, the enormous entitlements liabilities and the ever shrinking earnings of middle and lower class working age families.

Its an "engineering" approach having a high probability success outcome as apposed to a politician approach having a very low probability success outcome.

I had an amusing conversation with Mauldin about 5 yrs ago. He was ranting on about wanting to live and work well into his 90's, impressing upon me the exponential speed of medical scientific advances since the human genome code was cracked.

I asked him what he thought about the costs of prolonging life and whether such costs could be sustainable in the light of US and UK debt mountains. I knew his reply would be very weak, as it surely was in the context of him harping on about US debt week after week.

My suggestion for reducing health care costs was to cap the pharmaceutical industry to refrain from any R&D programs for new drugs having a prescription charge > $30 per week. In addition we older folk must come to an agreement about a cap on age, 80?,85?,90? Only then could our governments quantify cost projection forecasts going forward. I suggested imho age 80 was reasonable bearing in mind the legacy being left by us older generations to the younger generations.

Whatever age was mutually agreed, to apply to all citizens, would entail checking into the human abattoir on said birthday.

Ah, I see in the article Abe has asked the elderly to hurry up and die quickly. I don't think that is a workable plan. It will need to be compulsory.

and u r not gonna have it, i am sure! ;p