No Country for Young Men

April 8, 2008 / Add comment

Will things be better or worse in America when the Baby Boomers retire by 2030? McArdle notes that the service industries will likely expand, while the manufacturing ones might contract. The labor force could shrink, the stock market and housing prices might decline, and social security and Medicare could go bust. But McArdle takes an honest look at tiny Newark, New York as an example and finds no need for unrelenting pessimism. Policy problems can be solved and people are living longer and healthier lives -- it all could be a lot worse, she concludes.