# Dragging Down the Economy.



## Packerjohn (Feb 7, 2020)

We are "dragging down the economy".  Yup, that's right from the mouth of our senior deputy governor at the Bank of Canada.  I quote her very words:  "Canada's aging population will continue to act as a drag on growth, somewhat offset by rising immigration levels".  Well, that comes as a bit of a shocker to me.  Do seniors no longer buy/drive cars, do we not use gasoline, do we not rent or own homes & pay rent/taxes, do we not shop for groceries, do we not buy gifts for love ones?
I think we do & I think that this gal is talking about something she know nothing at all about.  Also, there are many books/films out there telling us that increasing GNP is an outdated way of thinking about the success of a country.  We are heading for trouble because the resources of the world cannot keep increasing GNP forever.  I don't know about you but I for one am not dragging the economy down.  Are you?


----------



## win231 (Feb 7, 2020)

It would be interesting to hear her solution........


----------



## Aunt Bea (Feb 7, 2020)

They have been saying that for a few years.

“The support ratio, the proportion of working-age people to retirees, [is] going to drop from 3.9 workers per retiree today, to 2.8 workers per retiree in 2025.” 

https://www.benefitscanada.com/inve...lation-expected-to-suppress-bond-yields-73879

IMO the only way to change it is to welcome/recruit immigrants into the population and the workforce.


----------



## Duster (Feb 7, 2020)

Maybe some of the geniuses can get the robot operated factories going. They'll need robots that can repair other robots though, because skilled human craftsmen are leaving their trades behind, as they retire from the work force. 

I think the encouragement of young people attending trade schools to become skilled craftsmen {and craftswomen} is a good direction to go in.  Programs where apprentices are taught skills are needed, as well.


----------



## Rasputin (Feb 7, 2020)

Wow, I guess we humans aren't supposed to age past a specific point. I wonder what the cutoff age is supposed to be? Really, many young people don't want children, so they aren't replenishing the workforce. "Legal" immigration may be the only answer.


----------



## squatting dog (Feb 7, 2020)

This comes to mind.


----------



## Lc jones (Feb 7, 2020)

Ageism rearing it’s ugly head once again.....


----------



## Gardenlover (Feb 7, 2020)

win231 said:


> It would be interesting to hear her solution........


Or it might scare the he!! out of some.


----------



## Lc jones (Feb 7, 2020)

Gardenlover said:


> Or it might scare the he!! out of some.


That’s right.


----------



## fmdog44 (Feb 7, 2020)

If I am that's tough s***. I all of my life and 7 days a week and 12 hours per day for the last 20 of those years. If the economy blows up again, tough s***!


----------



## retiredtraveler (Feb 8, 2020)

Darned old people!!!! 

Yeah. I guess having an Amazon prime account (and using it), traveling multiple times a year, continuous purchases to maintain a house and yard, keeping the cars going, eating out, purchasing household items doesn't count. I guess I'll just stay indoors and watch TV all day. I guess the millenials living in an apartment they can scarcely afford must be outspending me......
   (I love stereotypes)


----------



## CarolfromTX (Feb 8, 2020)

What about the forty plus years we were contributing to the economy? What an ignorant thing to say.


----------



## Lc jones (Feb 8, 2020)

Sour grapes.....


----------



## OneEyedDiva (Feb 8, 2020)

Wow! How disrespectful and thoughtless. She'd better watch out. She may find herself being part of an aging population one day. She'd better hope by that time, no one has decided that she was right and decide to "thin the herd" by systematically taking out the elderly.


----------



## Lethe200 (Feb 22, 2020)

It's based on forecasting the averages. The Boomers are aging and spending will slow down as they reach their 80's, just as the current "Silent Generation" has. The older one gets, the more healthcare expenses grow as a percentage of average budget, and the lower amounts will go into retail, entertainment, travel, and other such categories. 

Like it or not, we are aging. Few of us, if any, will be living the exact same lifestyle in 15 yrs that we do now.

_- US News & World Report, 2019_


----------



## mathjak107 (Feb 22, 2020)

Don’t forget boomers have tremendous wealth as a group ..a lot will be passed down to heirs so a lot of boomer heir spending will happen


----------



## Rosemarie (Feb 23, 2020)

Perhaps younger people blame us oldies for the mess the world is in right now, and I suppose they are correct to some extent.


----------



## mathjak107 (Feb 23, 2020)

well    when i got out of school in the 1970's  i was blessed with  a world that gave me the the draft , vietnam , the highest unemployment since the great depression . we had double digit inflation , new york city was going going bankrupt where i live ,  we had race riots and civil unrest from the vietnam war .

my dad was blessed with fighting in world war ii and a world that was destroyed .

his dad was blessed with the great depression where his family lost everything .

i tend to think a world where living with mommy and daddy  a bit longer  because homes are expensive  is really  not to bad . every generation  got shafted one way or another from the previous owners  , some just worse than others .


----------



## Rosemarie (Feb 23, 2020)

This generation have got things too easy. I suppose every generation's oldies say that, but in this case, it is true. All this obsession with 'mental health issues' says a lot. In the past, people accepted their lot and got on with  life. These days, we have raised a generation which can't deal with life's problems. They have been mollycoddled and protected from reality.


----------



## Giantsfan1954 (Feb 23, 2020)

Did Canada kidnap our AOC?
Sounds like something she would say.


----------



## Pepper (Feb 23, 2020)

Giantsfan1954 said:


> Did Canada kidnap our AOC?
> Sounds like something she would say.


Actually, it's opposite of anything I've heard her say.  Not "sounds like" in my fevered imagination, but actually listened to with my own 2 ears.


----------



## Pepper (Feb 23, 2020)

Rosemarie said:


> All this obsession with 'mental health issues' says a lot. In the past, people accepted their lot and got on with  life.


Maybe one should improve their lot, by not accepting what was dealt, but change it, best they can. After all, "The unexamined life is not worth living"  said Socrates.  Or was he mollycoddled and protected from reality too?

Someone who just accepts their lot may be a dullard.  Sounds that way to me. IMO


----------



## gennie (Feb 23, 2020)

I admit to being old but I am still self-supporting through my own endeavor.  I'm still spending money I earned 20+ years ago.


----------



## Rosemarie (Feb 23, 2020)

Pepper said:


> Maybe one should improve their lot, by not accepting what was dealt, but change it, best they can. After all, "The unexamined life is not worth living"  said Socrates.  Or was he mollycoddled and protected from reality too?
> 
> Someone who just accepts their lot may be a dullard.  Sounds that way to me. IMO


The point I was making is that instead of sitting feeling sorry for themselves, as they are encouraged to do these days, people got on with life, accepting the bad as well as the good.
It's easy for those who have an easy life to preach to others, who may not be so fortunate.


----------

