Whats Wrong with Social Security?
Recently, Alan Greenspan has shaken up the major news media with his testimony to Congress about the health of the Social Security system. Headlines scream, “Greenspan says that Social Security benefits must be cut!” Well, duh. This isn’t news, and reasonable people have been saying for years that Social Security needs to be reformed, or else it won’t be there when the current generation of youngsters finally needs it. Social Security is, after all, the ultimate Ponzi Scheme. It’s not a “trust fund”; it’s not an investment vehicle; it’s not even retirement “insurance”. Rather, it’s an intergenerational wealth transfer system. Money is forcefully confiscated from a younger, working generation, and given to an older, retired generation. In order for it to work, there have to be many more workers than retirees. But, since older people are now living longer, and younger people are having fewer children, the ratio of workers to retirees must necessarily decline. That means that–in order to
