经济学人279:政府与老人 老人的黄金时代

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　　政府与老人

　　Golden oldies

　　老人的黄金时代

　　The government makes rich pensioners¹ richer still

　　政府让原本富有的退休老人越来越富有

　　BRITAIN'S pensioners are a cosseted² lot. Since 2011 their state pensions have been protected by the “triple lock”, which ensures they rise along with prices, earnings³ or 2.5%, whichever is higher. Perks⁴ for the old such as free TV licences and bus passes and an annual winter handout⁵ to help with heating have all survived austerity. Government bonds paying well above the market rate of interest have just been made available exclusively to those aged⁶ 65 and over. Is all this generosity⁷ justified⁸?

　　英国的退休老人可谓是集万千宠爱于一身。从2011年开始，国家养老金就受到“三重保护”，保证养老金随物价、收益上涨或者二者之中最高者的2.5%的利率上涨。给老人们的其他福利，比如免费电视许可、巴士通行证以及每年发放的保暖健康手册在财政紧缩的当下统统保留了下来。领先市场利率的养老金债券在不久前也是仅仅提供给65岁以上的人群。所有的这些福利都是公平合理的吗？

　　英国政府与老人.jpg

　　Pensioners are poorer than working-age people—almost all have incomes below the national average. But they are treated better by the state. For any given private income, retirees' equivalised disposable income—that is, money available to spend after the deduction⁹ of taxes and payment of benefits, and adjusted to account for household size—is higher than that of younger people (see chart 1).

　　退休老人的收入低于正在工作的人们——大多数老人只能拿到低于国家平均工资水平的退休金。但是国家更优待他们。对于任何有固定收入的个人，退休人员的可支配收入——在交税和支付福利后并按照家庭收入比例作出调整的可支配金额——比年轻人的收入要高得多（见表1）。

　　The state pension, currently worth about ￡6,000 (around $9,000) a year, accounts for much of the discrepancy¹⁰. It is often seen as a reward for past contributions, not as a pure benefit, but this is dubious¹¹: pensions are funded by today's taxpayers¹². Even if pensions are counted as private income, the richest pensioners still do well from the state (see chart 2). They do not pay national insurance (a tax levied¹³ only on earned income) on their private pensions, leaving more money for cruises and conservatories¹⁴.

　　国家养老金，目前每人每年为6000英镑（约9000美元），是造成这些差异的主要原因。退休金被看做是对过去对社会贡献的回报，而不是单纯的福利，但是这似乎很矛盾：养老金是由现在的纳税人缴纳的。即使养老金被视作个人收入，最富裕的退休老人依然从国家得到了许多好处（见表2）。他们不需要为自己的养老金支付国民保险（仅针对自营收入征收的税种），这样就有了更多的钱去旅游和听音乐会。

　　On January 27th, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph newspaper, David Cameron promised that a future Conservative government would remove housing benefit from 18- to 21-year-olds—a group that suffers from higher-than-average unemployment and already receives less generous welfare payments. Meanwhile, the silver-haired who will benefit most from the government's new bonds are those who can afford to stash¹⁵ away the full ￡20,000 limit—more than a year's income for most pensioners. It's a good time to be rich and old.

　　1月27日，在接受《每日电讯报》的采访时，卡梅伦承诺未来的保守党政府将会减掉18至20岁群体的住房补贴，这个群体有着高于平均水平的失业率并且得到较少的福利补贴。同时，那些从政府的新债券中获利颇多的老人，能够存下2万英镑限额之内的金额—这比大多数老人年退休金还要多。这是老年人致富的黄金时代。

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