No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

Europe is discovering that the welfare state comes with a high cost. State-provided services like universal health care and mandatory vacation time are appealing in the here-and-now, but it turns out that the old adage it true, and folks are finding themselves having to work well past their expected retirement in order to fund the services they enjoyed in their younger days.

Meanwhile, the Medicare prescription drug benefit debate continues in DC, with the AARP pushing hard to get a bill passed soon. Seniors, after all, have nothing to lose and everything to gain from "free" (read: taxpayer-subsidized) drugs. Rather, it's my generation that will end up carrying the burden when the multi-billion dollar check comes due. And the next check. And the one after that...