Euro zone: Without the rise in the retirement age, a catastrophic financial crisis would be inevitable

The euro zone continue s to enjoy non-inflationary growth thanks to a rise in its participation rate (the proportion of the working-age population in the labour market). The rise in the euro zone’s participation rate is also mainly due to rising participation among over-60s. This shows that if the effective retirement age stopped rising in the euro zone, the participation rate would stop rising, growth would disappear and inflation would return, driving up interest rates and inevitably leading to a severe financial crisis.