The former president turned 80 this week, and a new study from the London School of Economics has dropped a bombshell: octogenarian workers in the US and UK outproduce their EU counterparts by a significant margin. The data, released by the Centre for Economic Performance, shows that Americans and Britons aged 80-plus are 23% more productive than the average EU worker in the same age bracket. This is a sharp rebuke to those who argue that older workers are a drag on the economy.
The findings come as the UK faces a shrinking working-age population and rising dependency ratios. Critics will point to selection bias – the healthiest and most motivated octogenarians are the ones still in the workforce. But the market doesn't care about selection bias; it cares about output.
And the output is clear: experience and grit beat early retirement and state subsidies every time. The study also notes that UK gilt yields have been stable, suggesting the market is pricing in a higher participation rate among older workers. Capital flight from the Continent continues as investors seek out economies that value productivity over pension promises.
The bottom line: age is just a number, but productivity is the only number that matters.
