Carlos Rodríguez Braun (75 years old), economist: “the Government made an electoral calculation, it knows that resources are limited and said, we are going to reward pensioners at the expense of workers"

Carlos Rodríguez Braun (Buenos Aires, 1948) has a long career behind him as a writer, professor at the Complutense University of Madrid and collaborator in different media, in programs specialized in economics. He has just published ‘Liberal Gregerias’ (LID Editorial), a book in which he ironically talks about the current economic situation, “something that must be difficult because no one has done it before me,” he noted in an exclusive interview with NewsWork.

“If you look at it, everything is complicated but at the same time it has to be presented in an accessible way,” said the Argentine, who highlights the importance of being brief and knowing how to use humor. It stands out that, today, the economy is no rocket and explains that “public debt can cheer up the economy for a while, but that’s all; it is not stable growth, it is not solid or durable. Taxes cannot be raised without this having negative consequences.”

Inflation is getting higher and higher, and that is why “people know that this is not going well, that it is the opposite of what the Government says.” And you only have to look at the salaries that are being paid in Spain. “Salaries have not risen due to the combination of inflation with taxes. Inflation is a tax too and we must remember that.”

“The middle class is increasingly poorer and prosperity, yes, but above all for the State and civil servants and, above all, pensioners.” Regarding retirees, he has pointed out that “the Government made a clear electoral calculation, they know that resources are limited and said ‘we are going to reward pensioners at the expense of workers’. The salary horizon is regular because how are you going to pay pensions when the imbalance is so great?”

Social Security is financed with contributions until October

A study by the Juan de Mariana Institute, cited by Professor Rodríguez Braun, reflects that “Social Security It is financed with contributions until October 1“And what happens with the rest of the months? For the economist it is clear: “pensions are paid with taxes.” And the Government “knows this and what it has done is a bet by humping the workers and hoping that they do not realize it and that the pensioners continue to vote for it.”

Regarding the current state of the pension system, the expert warns that “the current pension system has a hole that cannot be financed because of the Government, the pensioners are innocent.”

“The contribution is not enough to pay pensions, and raising taxes is expensive, the debt cannot be raised and the system will enter an impossible dynamic. For now, this is the Government’s dynamic.”

The Government has decided to “reward” pensioners with “higher pensions”

The system to keep Spanish retirees and pensioners happy is to “give them higher pensions” and regarding the inequalities that appear between pensioners and workerswhich experts or influencers have denounced on more than one occasion on their social networks. “They are not technically pensions. You do not collect them for having contributed, these are the private ones. Here you contribute, you set up a fund and from there you collect when you retire.”

But what about Social Security then? The public pension system, “is not like that, it does not have a fund, it does not exist. The reserve fund thing is a joke. It is called pay-as-you-go because at all times, the State pays the pensions with what it is collecting from the contributors. This collection does not generate any rights for you, you would only have it if you have paid it yourself.”

“The Government can do all kinds of stupid things, which it does, leading the pension systems to an unsustainable situation. This is an issue that is not only Spanish, but also occurs in many European countries.”

“Think about civil society and not so much about politicians”

Politics “is hypertrophied and they are like trees that do not let us see the forest, which is society, the people who work, who are saturated with taxes by politicians and, of course, in the end people get upset.”

“I am optimistic, I think that over time this will get better. Because people are realizing it, in the surveys they already think that they are not going to receive a decent pension and that what they should do is start saving on their own… and that is a good message.”