John Stossel’s March 10 column on the ravages of socialism in Europe was spot on. Fifteen years ago on a tour of Greece, I was advised that, because of government strikes, many of the tourist services would not be available. A tour guide indicated that the retirement system for government employees was under attack.
I discovered that the country’s system allowed people to retire at 55 (with 30 years of service) at 100 percent of their pay for the rest of their life, plus cost-of-living adjustments. The government was proposing a more realistic system. While I retired at 55 with 30 years of service with Treasury, the retirement annuity was 56 percent average (plus COLAS) of my highest three years of earnings. It is less now.
In my opinion, it is more important for the EU to begin paying its fair share of NATO expenses than to provide a lifetime cushion for their government employees. Maybe Donald Trump’s shakeup of the federal bureaucracy will provide a template for federal employment in Europe.
