A crisis though it is, it must also be seen as a gateway towards an opportunity to imbibe crucial learnings.
Pension is a tricky subject in most countries. Just look at the images from France where thousands took to the streets to protest President Emmanuel Macron’s unilateral decision to raise the minimum general retirement age—i.e. the age state pensions kick in—from 62 to 64. In the glorious French tradition that goes back to at least 1789, these demonstrations were vicious and violent. The provocation may be as mundane as high fuel prices, but the French zeal is always revolutionary.
We are talking some serious numbers here. In 2020, France spent 13.6% of its gross domestic product on state pensions, says …
Sushant Singh is a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. He has taught at Yale University (Fall 2019 and Fall 2021) and was deputy editor of The Indian Express. A winner of the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2017 and 2018, he had earlier served in the Indian Army for two decades. He is also the author of Mission Overseas and co-author of Note by Note: The India Story.
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