Germany faces the danger of an aging population

A debate has been raging for several weeks in German political and union circles on the financing of public pension plans. "In Germany, where now nearly half of political party members are retirees, we speak of 'the dictatorship of shareholders'", writes Yves Petignat. "In a book that sparked the debate, 'The Mathusalem Plot', Frank Schirrmacher, editor of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, predicts that the imbalance provoked by demographic decline in Europe will set off a 'terrorist war of cultures'. ... Since Bismarck, the German social state embodies stability, permanence and the continuity of the state. It's security against the tragedies of history. But the state could default and its citizens' confidence transform into social and political malaise. We've seen it with the rise of Nazism. Since then, any reproach against solidarity, any infringement on social ethics is a blow to the state's credibility."

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