Social Security in Aging America

The Samuelson article misses the point. Of course older people are capable of continuing to work and would like to do so. With tremendous unemployment today, though, the retirement of older workers is not merely for their benefit but for the benefit of the young. Opportunity for the young does not grow on trees but on employment charts, and that includes retirement of older workers. As age increases the need for sick leave for some older workers, retirement benefits for all older workers are seen as a long-range requirement. It took years and countless sessions of congressional staffs with private consultants to work out the current benefits that both youthful employment and old-age health needs dictated. A newspaper article is not likely to offer the nation a better balanced solution.

G.M. BERGMAN

Los Angeles