Old age and treachery will always triumph over youth and skill. At least, that is the way it looks.
Our speech to the Class of 2015 (you can catch up here and here) left out some important points. The jobs picture, for example, is even bleaker. And depriving young people of jobs is like depriving pandas of bamboo shoots: It’s all they have. Older people can watch their stocks, real estate, and bonds go up in price. A young person can only look at the “Help Wanted” ads… and hope for a break.
20 Million Fewer Jobs
In 2000, 56% of the working-age population was employed. That was an all-time high. It has fallen ever since… and is now down to 46%. The working-age population is about 200 million people. This suggests there are about 20 million fewer people with jobs today than there were at the start of the century. Guess who those people are?
People with all their teeth, all their hair, and all their wits.
Since the stock market bottomed in 2009, only one group has added jobs – people 55 and older. Every other age group has lost out.
Why?
New businesses hire young people. Old businesses hire old ones. Imagine a new company – Uber, Snapchat, or Pinterest – recruiting gray-haired workers.
They won’t. The older generation wouldn’t understand. They’d be out of place.
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