[bryanlarsen]

> pay the rents of the old generation from a share of the working one.

That's what Norway does too, just less directly. The $1.75T that Norway has in their sovereign wealth fund is just a claim on future output. Germany's taxes are a claim on future output.

Or to look at it at a micro perspective. Suppose you have $10M saved for retirement, but need to hire a personal care nurse. But there aren't any and you get in a bidding war with someone who has saved $100M.