Age Shock By ROBIN BLACKBURN Age Shock is not, as one might suppose, about the shock of realizing one is getting old. It is, however, of importance and some poignancy for those of us who are and have loved ones in the "senior" years. Further, all of us will reach the "elder years," we hope.

Robin Blackburn teaches at the Graduate Faculty of the New School University, New York, and in the Sociology Department of the University of Essex. He is the author of Banking on Death: Or, Investing in Life: The History and Future of Pension.

Most probably, all readers of this newspaper are aware of the current financial crisis. Blackburn is not answering questions about what is happening now; rather, he is writing about how badly financial services have performed as custodians of savings and pensions.

"There is nothing intrinsically disastrous in rising longevity and falling birth rates, the forces making for an ageing society. Yet these developments, and the specific costs and strains associated with them" present a challenge to individuals and government. In an era when the U.S. has reverted to deficit financing and citizens have lost their aversion to personal indebtedness, future possibilities have been reduced.

Blackburn states that the proportion of the population over 65 in advanced countries will rise to 20 per cent or more in the next 30 years. In these countries, the majority of people have more parents than children. They have fewer siblings who can share the care of the elderly. As elders need a greater slice of the national budget, funds for education and child-care and other needs may be lessened.

In addition to the demographics affecting the ageing society, Blackburn discusses the commercial and corporate failure to deal adequately with the problem. Fewer than half of the U.S. working population is covered by 401(k) or IRA schemes, and even these are threatened. "The promised pensions of steel workers airline workers, and auto workers have been victims of sabotage and chicanery." (This writer "pulls no punches.")

As is being pointed out in Congress as this review is written, the superstar CEO has been one of the problems. Deregulation and financial scandals have not helped. Blackburn goes on to suggest ways to deal with the problem in a chapter entitled "How to Finance Decent Pensions." They include raising the threshold below which FICA is paid or by some new tax. It would take political will and skill to implement his ideas, but he is convincing in his thesis that something must be done.

The author has done extensive research, each chapter ending with source notes. His writing is clear, though his points are perhaps debatable. One hopes that our leaders and concerned citizens will examine these ideas quickly.

Age Shock is available at the Mary Willis Library.