The Financial Times of London reports that the “rich nations” of Europe failed to reform their economies to get more people working, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. This underutilization of workers is causing western Europe to lag behind the United States in productivity, and this is resulting in the decline of relative living standards.

Underutilization of able people? What could ever cause that?

The OECD was most concerned that the tax and benefit systems of many countries encourage people to retire unnecessarily early, adding to the burden on taxpayers and directly reducing the country’s living standards. The OECD has shown that increasing the participation of older people in the labour force is the single policy most likely to reduce the costs of pensions in an ageing society and improve living standards, particularly in continental European countries.