This from Economics, Politics and the Coming Collapse of the Elderly Welfare State, by James Rolph Edwards. For reference sake, the last of us Boomers turn 40 this year. Some of us turn in the next week or so, which might explain my recent interest in such things. (grin)
In 1950, there were 17 workers per retiree. It is now three to one, and the boomers begin retiring around 2008. When they realize they have paid all their working lives into the system and are able to obtain only little or nothing from it, all delusions will fall away, and they will be unable to deny that they have been massively stolen from. This may precipitate the worst political crisis since the Civil War. Fortunately, we are not the first nation to face this crisis, and we can take instruction from those who have gone before. more excerpts
Another handy reference point: I graduated in a high school class of 625, my sister graduated from the same public school 4 years later as one of 425.