Pensions

As I travelled to work this morning I listened to the Today programme on Radio 4.   There was an item on pensions, Evan Davis blithely agreeing with the interviewee that the demise of final salary pensions was "inevitable" because they were too expensive.   Too expensive for whom?   The demise of final salary pensions is a direct result of the over-supply of cheap skilled labour, so that companies no longer have to compete to attract employees with good pensions, non-contributory health care, longer holidays etc.   If the labour market were to be closed (through effective migration controls) we would soon see the position start to reverse.   Unrestricted inward migration must inevitably lead to the abandonment of the social welfare system, including the NHS.  Depending on your political standpoint this may be either a good thing or a bad thing.  But to pretend it is not going to happen is dishonest.