Fair Trade

Tired of driving behind an old person going 25? Don't want to wash your own dishes or mow your own lawn? Well, Miami Herald columnist Andres Oppenheimer has a solution to both: exchange old Americans for young workers from poorer countries. As someone who plans to retire in a 2nd or 3rd world country where my money will go further, I'm intrigued.

From Inside Politics:

Andres Oppenheimer of the Miami Herald has a proposal to quell illegal entry. As 100 million Americans reach retirement age in the next three decades, why not send adventurous boomers to the sunny South for their golden years?

"The U.S. should negotiate agreements with willing partners in the region to provide favorable deals to U.S. citizens willing to retire south of the border," Mr. Oppenheimer wrote yesterday. "It could, among other things, offer reimbursement under Medicare for Americans seeking medical care in qualified and licensed health care facilities in Latin America."

"Since these reimbursements would be much lower than those Americans would get in the United States, the U.S. government would save billions of dollars, which it would use to replenish Social Security coffers. By creating hundreds of thousands of jobs for doctors, nurses, hospital technicians, restaurateurs and construction workers, Latin American economies would get a big boost."

It "may help the Bush administration appease the Republican right in Congress," Mr. Oppenheimer writes.

Is he on to something? Maybe. "Gringos are a great, clean, sustainable industry. One Gringo, no matter how frugal, can support many locals," notes Art Jones, who retired to Mazatlan in 2001, in "The People's Guide to Mexico".

Full Oppenheimer op-ed here.