Hey Veeky Forums

Hey Veeky Forums,
I have a question about economics:
There are warnings by economists about a pensions crisis that is about to come in many developed nations, as people get older and less people are in the work force. On the other hand unemployment is on the rise due to higher productivity and automatisation. Even jobs with high qualification requirements are already affected. How does that fit together? Can someone with an understanding of economics explain that? Much appreciated.
(Firs time I'm posting on this board, so please forgive, if that's a dumb question.)

(((economists)))

You're talking about a bunch of people that might as well be reading palms or using tarot cards. They only exist to justify the policy decisions of the people in power and don't give a shit about actual science.

I'm confused about what you're actually asking.

The pension crisis is more about stock market returns. Pension funds just can't get the sort of returns they used to be able to get, so they're having to dig into the principal to pay people who are retiring (there are a lot of baby boomers due to retire within the next decade). If this continues (which seems likely), funds will gradually dry up to the point where people who have been paying into these funds for their whole careers will discover, upon retirement, that there's actually no money left to pay out their pensions.
Until/unless we see pre-2008 levels of growth again, I can't see any options other than massive bailouts of pension funds.

In regards to your confusion about unemployment rate, you should stop thinking as if there are a set number of jobs. X number of people retiring every year does not necessarily mean there are X job openings for younger people.

>How does that fit together?
Pensions come from income taxes.
Geriatrics and robots don't pay those.
Start saving up. No, not money. Buy shit that doesn't lose value over time.

Sure, actuaries sit down twiddling their thumbs and forgetting all the math they learned in college.

Yeah, but that's not the form of economics that's driving policy decisions, is it?

posting krugman is like post black science man
get outta here pseud

Economistfag here, I kind of not understand your question totally but I'll try to help.

The pension problem is not that important anymore because many nations not named Japan have taken measures to reduce the State contribution to them in the year or changing the "Old" pension style. Still, it can create some troubles depending the population growth rates, but is not the end of the world anymore.

Yes, unemployment at the long term could be higher due to what you say, or at least that's the fear since the XVII Century, but in the other hand, new markets are created thanks to the technology where people can go. It is a problem in poor countries where people have no education or skills and can't change into other areas easily.

How does it fit together? Mmm, welp, at difference of what a lot can say, Economics isn't a hard science, it can't really make predictions accurately. But my shot is that probably somewhere along this century, there will be a reduction on the time of work, with more shifts and more employees, but with stable wages, so unemployment is taken. Almost 90% of businesses and jobs will be in the services as the industry and agriculture will become too crowded and automatized. That or we go full socialist and make meme state businesses to take the unemployment. One way or another, people probably won't take high unemployment rates with inequality for too long.