We always forget that people actually consume services, not dollars. What if instead of a pension or Social Security delivered as a cheque, we provided a basket of highly subsidized services, essentially state-funded retirement homes?
These can be delivered on enormous government scale, potentially bringing unit costs down far below what individuals can achieve.
It could be an effective way to create an evergreen economic engine in regions that have had poor development-- dropping a community of 200,000 retirees into a Rust Belt city creates tens of thousands of infrastructure and support jobs.
Private retirement schemes could, of course, deliver additional luxuries, but it would be a huge stabilizing influence to know that nobody is going to have to try to drag themselves back into the workforce at 92 because their 401(k) ran out and they can no longer afford their rent.
These can be delivered on enormous government scale, potentially bringing unit costs down far below what individuals can achieve.
It could be an effective way to create an evergreen economic engine in regions that have had poor development-- dropping a community of 200,000 retirees into a Rust Belt city creates tens of thousands of infrastructure and support jobs.
Private retirement schemes could, of course, deliver additional luxuries, but it would be a huge stabilizing influence to know that nobody is going to have to try to drag themselves back into the workforce at 92 because their 401(k) ran out and they can no longer afford their rent.