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Economist Werding: Completely priceless
Photo: Jürgen Heinrich / IMAGO
The new economist Martin Werding has spoken out in favor of Germans working longer because of demographic change.
"We need a higher retirement age," said Werding of the "Süddeutsche Zeitung".
After raising the retirement age to 67 by 2031, things must continue to compensate for increasing life expectancy.
"The retirement age should rise to 68 by 2042/43 and to 69 by 2054/55," said Werding.
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One should also consider linking pensions to inflation instead of wages.
"In normal times, when inflation is much lower than it is now, that means fewer pension increases," says Werding.
Without political reforms, social security contributions would increase from 40 percent today to 48 percent by 2035.
Werding refused to plug financial gaps with higher taxes, for example.
»In order to close the financial gap, you would need an additional 180 billion euros per year in 2040.
60 percent of the entire federal budget would go to social security, that's completely unaffordable.«
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On Wednesday, the Federal Cabinet appointed the economics professor, together with the financial market expert Ulrike Malmendier, to the Council of Experts to assess overall economic development.
In the Council of Economic Experts, whose members are also known as "Wirtschaftswise", women are now in the majority for the first time.
The council only had three members.
Werding is Professor of Social Policy and Public Finance at the Ruhr University Bochum.
Only recently, a proposal by the President of the employers' association, Stefan Wolf, to increase the retirement age to 70 years, met with great criticism from trade unions, for example.
Werding told the "Handelsblatt" that pension, nursing care and health insurance had to be reorganized.
The federal government must urgently initiate fundamental reforms of the social security systems.
mike/dpa
