Hope @benchu.bsky.social won't mind me pinching his chart to rebut this nonsense. The blue line is the important one.

Britain’s safety net isn’t set up for a widespread jobs shock The state does not offer a temporary cushion to support those who were previously in work

'Across all OECD countries, single homeowners who have just lost their jobs retain 55% of their previous in-work incomes on average, falling to 22% if they are still unemployed after five years. In the UK, the “replacement rate” is just 12 per cent in both cases.' 👀 @sarahoconnorft.ft.com

One important point: the actuarial projections about baby boomer retirement were very accurate. You might think we are hitting reserve depletion because "lots of old people/few workers" but that was baked into the 1983 amendment choices. It was the income inequality that caused the trouble.

It's not demographics...birth rates, immigration, the big boomer retirement wave....SSA's actuaries predicted all of that remarkably well. And it is not economic or wage growth...they got those too! So what happened? Two things: 1. massive unanticipated economic inequality in the 80s/90s...

A pleasure to share my assessment of the World Bank's Business Ready #B-READY project yesterday at @ituc.bsky.social. Welcome opportunity to hear more about the research of Rouguiatou Diallo, @floriangrant.bsky.social & Dhaisy Paredes Guzman.

My paper w/Sangheon Lee: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

No need for a moral panic about the welfare system It’s far from perfect, but the UK’s spending is broadly controlled and employment is high

Terrific column by @chrisgiles.ft.com;

Funding Development Through the Lens of Tax Justice and Social Protection What is the International Conference on Financing for Development and how is it significant in setting the agenda for development financing and cooperation? Max: It’s a large UN-driven process that br...

A lot of attention has been on #FfD4 & the Compromiso de Sevilla – but what does it actually mean amidst a global debt crisis?

@maxgallien.bsky.social & @floriangrant.bsky.social chat with WIEGO about the process and its outcomes: www.wiego.org/blog/tax-jus...

#FinancingOurFuture #TaxExperts

For me the question is whether flat rate benefits are all that's possible if we're moving that way economically. Are there ways to maintain earnings-releated benefits in this future?

We had similar thoughts - I'd be curious what you think of this www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/h...

At an Uncertain Moment for Germany, Suddenly Boring Doesn’t Look So Bad

#Arminia 💙 #Bielefeld

• Al Overview The idiom "you can't lick a badger twice" means you can't trick or deceive someone a second time after they've been tricked once. It's a warning that if someone has already been deceived, they are unlikely to fall for the same trick again. Here's a more detailed explanation: • Licking: "Licking" in this context means to trick or deceive someone. • Badger: The badger is a wild animal, and the phrase likely originates from the historical sport of badger baiting where dogs were used to harass

Someone on Threads noticed you can type any random sentence into Google, then add “meaning” afterwards, and you’ll get an AI explanation of a famous idiom or phrase you just made up. Here is mine

Ursula von der Leyen: "We have no bros and no oligarchs" Donald Trump's second term has brought "historic changes", says EU President Ursula von der Leyen. In our interview, she explains how Europe must respond.

"No bros, no oligarchs" works pretty well www.zeit.de/politik/2025...

Amid austerity and aid cuts, workers need to deepen their understanding of domestic financing of social protection Could you give a bit more background on the training? The training is part of a three-year capacity development journey for the global networks of workers in informal employment. We have started with ...

New blog on the importance of informal worker organisations deepening their understanding of domestic financing for social protection in this time of austerity and aid cuts, and how WIEGO's free online resources can support that

www.wiego.org/blog/domesti...

@lauraalfers.bsky.social

The problem is: they've mistaken correlation for causation. They think their parents and grandparents had a good life *because* of manufacturing jobs. When, in reality, their parents and grandparents had a good life *despite* manufacturing jobs, because of unions, high taxes, and social policies.

Welcoming @lauraalfers.bsky.social to bluesky and the social protection starter pack

Fußball, bloody hell! #DSCB04

Future-Proofing Social Protection | by Florian Juergens-Grant & Luca Pellerano - Project Syndicate Florian Juergens-Grant & Luca Pellerano explain why employers’ contributions should be determined by capital intensity, not just labor stock.

Because social-insurance contributions depend on wages, labor-intensive firms now shoulder a larger financing burden, which lets many profitable companies off the hook, note @floriangrant.bsky.social and Luca Pellerano.

Thanks, @tiapalermo.bsky.social!

These ideas are not yet fully formed, but we think they are worth exploring and we hope to start a conversation, so please get in touch if you have any reflections!

Future-Proofing Social Protection | by Florian Juergens-Grant & Luca Pellerano - Project Syndicate Florian Juergens-Grant & Luca Pellerano explain why employers’ contributions should be determined by capital intensity, not just labor stock.

How to equitably finance social protection in a world where labour appears to be losing ground?

In this @projectsyndicate.bsky.social piece, Luca Pellerano and I share some of our thinking on re-balancing social protection financing towards capital.

www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/h...

Why work is (still) not working for women | CNN Sexual harassment, low wages and the ‘motherhood penalty’ are just some of the obstacles millions of women face at work in 2025.

Great article on 'Why work is (still) not working for women' by CNN for International Women's Day with lots of data and quotes from WIEGO colleagues

edition.cnn.com/2025/03/07/w...

1/

Keynes' (v hard headed) paper How to Pay for the War (1940) proposed something like abolishing the 2-child limit BECAUSE Britain was at war

archive.org/details/in.e...

The French Just Want to Enjoy Their Retraite

An american retirement wonk visits France.

retirementincomejournal.com/article/the-...

This morning the justice secretary pointed to a “huge rise in the welfare budget” as justification for targeting benefit spending to make fiscal savings. So how big has the rise in welfare spending been?

We are currently supporting global networks of informal workers organisations with a three year capacity development journey on #socialprotection

1st round was on the Financing and Economics of SP. Initially designed to be in-person, we have just digitised them

www.wiego.org/wp-content/u...

Looking forward to seeing you in Oxford!

Join us in a bit to discuss a seminal book on non-contributory pensions across Latin America and the Caribbean

lnkd.in/eqfm3TzQ

Here is the book: www.cepal.org/en/publicati...

Looking forward to sharing my reflections as part of the launch of an important ECLAC book on

'Non-contributory pension systems in Latin America and the Caribbean: towards solidarity with sustainability'

21 Jan 11.00-13.00 Mexico City time

Join here: us02web.zoom.us/j/82276624204