No short-term fix for long-term pension issue

Parliamentary democracy is not a bad system, but it has many in-built limitations. Arguably, the chief among these is the difficulty of planning for the long-term, long-term meaning longer than beyond the next election, writes Brian Keegan.

The need for long-term planning has rarely been more important. But very few modern-day political leaders manage to survive for multiple terms of office, and even when they do, they rarely manage to hang on beyond a decade. Because of this, ministers tend to focus on the short-term, it’s what wins elections.