Pure madness to pretend that we are going to reverse the courageous pension reform led by Olivier Dussopt eighteen months ago. If we want to find a single fault with this reform, it is to have granted, for political reasons, too many concessions on the measures concerning long careers, measures which are expensive. In fact, the basic system could be in deficit this year and the reform will have to be covered within a few years. Once again, we will have to find a way to extend the average contribution period. Once again, France will be blocked for several weeks. Once again, the government will emerge wrung out of this sequence, without the capacity to carry out other reforms. And above all, after the next reform, another next reform will have to be planned. And yes, in a country where people are living older and older and having fewer and fewer children, a pay-as-you-go pension system is being reformed almost continuously to shift the average retirement age ever later. in full retirement. The wall of demography makes us touch the limits of a system of pure distribution.
A system that widens wealth inequalities
This is the reason why the amendment presented to the social security financing bill by the senator from Hauts-de-France, Franck Dhersin (Horizons), which introduces a dose of capitalization into our system, is timely. appointed. To fully understand the issue, we will read the note that Bertrand Martinot has just published for the Foundation for Political Innovation (Capitalisation: a way out of the pension crisis?). This economist emphasizes that the French system is based almost exclusively on distribution, with 97.8% of pensions financed by this model. This choice stands out from other large economies, where capitalization occupies a more significant place.
Result: public pension expenditure in France among the highest in the world (more than 13% of GDP), very high contributions (27.8% of gross salaries) which weigh on the competitiveness of companies and a system which increases the patrimonial inequalities. Indeed, low-income workers, with no savings, only receive a small pension from the pay-as-you-go system, while younger generations inherit an unsustainable social debt. Above all, our country is incapable of mobilizing capital that would be invested in our businesses to pay retirees. We lack capitalization in every way.
Create a collective and compulsory fund
Bertrand Martinot recalls a fundamental economic principle: the return on capital is structurally higher than economic growth. This gap makes capitalization more effective in the long term for financing retirements. Contrary to popular belief, capitalization is therefore not more risky than distribution, provided that investments are diversified and investments in volatile assets are limited, which regulations will easily do. Even more, a compulsory capitalization pillar would make it possible to democratize access to capital. By providing all workers with a collective retirement savings portfolio, we would direct national savings towards strategic sectors, thus promoting economic sovereignty.
To constitute a first layer of capitalization, Bertrand Martinot proposes the creation of a collective and compulsory capitalization fund, intended to ultimately cover a third of private sector retirement expenses. To fund this fund, a collective effort would be necessary, which must be equitably shared: by current retirees, by workers and companies via the introduction of a capitalization contribution, and finally by the State, which would compensate in part of these efforts by a tax reduction guaranteed by a reduction in its own expenditure. Once in place, this mixed system would fuel innovation and reconcile social justice and economic performance by allowing all workers to benefit from capital returns. A true Marxist dream!
At a time when the left is intellectually defeated and the right is running out of ideas, the introduction of a dose of capitalization, for future retirees but above all for our economic power, is an excellent proposal. May the Dhersin amendment pass the milestone of 49.3!
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