Another Consequence of Raising Retirement Age

Some politicians and businessmen, all comfortably well off and with no retirement worries of their own, have suggested raising the retirement age and the age of eligibility for Social Security again, this time to age 70. The Business Roundtable, a group of prominent CEOs, are among the latest to do so. They claim that this strategy will somehow reduce the deficit.

What I haven't seen as part of this discussion is how raising the retirement age will prevent many younger men and women from finding employment. With many more people staying in the job pool, there would be less opportunity for new graduates or newly laid off workers to be hired.  In fact, that is one of the arguments for having a shorter work week--more people can be employed. In our current economic situation, shouldn't we be more concerned with finding ways to increase employment?