ePub Social Security: The Phony Crisis download

by Mark Weisbrot

Author:

Mark Weisbrot

ISBN13:

978-0226035444

ISBN:

0226035441

Language:

English

Publisher:

University of Chicago Press; 1 edition (January 3, 2000)

Category:

Other

Subcategory:

Social Sciences

ePub file:

1489 kb

Fb2 file:

1702 kb

Other formats:

doc azw mobi lit

Rating:

4.1

Votes:

865

Mark Weisbrot Social Sciences English

Download ePub Download Fb2

More..

Weisbrot is co-author, with Baker, of Social Security: The Phony Crisis (University of Chicago Press, 1999)

The debate over Social Security reform continues, but few participants ask one basic question: does Social . Baker and Weisbrot's book also has valuable information and arguments on health care and other important issues. 46 people found this helpful.

The debate over Social Security reform continues, but few participants ask one basic question: does Social Security really need to be reformed? This eloquent, sophisticated book smashes away the rhetoric of the Social Security "crisis" to answer with a resounding "no," offering a clear and compelling defense of a system that's not nearly as troubled as many would have us think.

As baby boomers begin to retire, will they inevitably, by force of their sheer numbers, bankrupt the system? Is Social Security a big Ponzi scheme that will leave future generations with little to show for their lifetime of contributions?

Is it true that the Social Security system is in serious trouble and must be repaired? . Is the only way to solve the Social Security crisis through radical changes like privatization or bolstering it with massive new taxes?

Город: Washington, DCПодписчиков: 15 ты. себе: I'm co-director, Center for Economic & . .

Latest book, ''Failed: What the Experts Got Wrong About the Global Economy" Oxford U Press.

Mark Alan Weisbrot is an American economist and columnist

Mark Alan Weisbrot is an American economist and columnist .

Magazine article Ideas on Liberty. Social Security: The Phony Crisis. Magazine article Ideas on Liberty. First, they say, there's no hurry for reform. Without changing a thing, Social Security can pay full benefits until 2037 by drawing on its trust fund.

Social Security isn't in trouble and the criticisms of it are not logical as the authors of "The Phony Crisis" point ou. irst . This book is a very welcome antidote to claims that Social Security is fiscally unsound and would well be privatized

Social Security isn't in trouble and the criticisms of it are not logical as the authors of "The Phony Crisis" point ou. irst of all, Social Security is an INSURANCE System, not an "investment". the performance "advantage" of equity markets gets razor-thin at best. This book is a very welcome antidote to claims that Social Security is fiscally unsound and would well be privatized. The authors, economists, cite relevant facts to support their cogent arguments.

People: BAKER, Dean, WEISBROT, Mark. Добавить в избранное. Читать онлайн PDF-полный текст.

Economists Dean Baker and Mark Weisbrot lay out a devastating critique of those who say Social Security is going broke and that something drastic needs to be done.

Is it true that the Social Security system is in serious trouble and must be repaired? As baby boomers begin to retire, will they inevitably, by force of their sheer numbers, bankrupt the system? Is Social Security a big Ponzi scheme that will leave future generations with little to show for their lifetime of contributions? Is the only way to solve the Social Security crisis through radical changes like privatization or bolstering it with massive new taxes?According to the authors of this important new study, the answer to these questions is a resounding no. In Social Security: The Phony Crisis, economists Dean Baker and Mark Weisbrot argue that there is no economic, demographic, or actuarial basis for the widespread belief that the program needs to be fixed. As the authors emphasize, there is virtually no disagreement about the facts of Social Security's finances, or even the projections for its future. Rather, the Social Security debate has been foundering on misconceptions, confusion, and lack of agreement on the meaning of crucial terms. The authors also take on related issues: that privatization would help save Social Security, that America has a pressing need to increase its national savings, and that future generations will suffer from the costs—especially for health care—of supporting a growing elderly population.As New York Times columnist Fred Brock recently wrote, "So-called reform of the Social Security system is looking more and more like a solution in search of a problem." In this accessible and insightful work, Baker and Weisbrot seek to cut through some of the myths and fallacies surrounding this crucial policy issue."Dean Baker and Mark Weisbrot have no trouble at all demonstrating that even on highly conservative assumptions about economic growth, the much-forecast insolvency of the Social Security system by about 2030 is most unlikely to happen then, if indeed ever."—The Economist"The authors challenge basic assumptions with vigor and intelligence. . . . An absolutely relevant and important analysis, presented with force and clarity, that asks, basically, what kind of a nation we really are."—Kirkus Reviews"Proponents—like George W. Bush—of Social Security privatization . . . typically ignore prospects for a stagnant or falling stock market. In Social Security: The Phony Crisis, [Baker and Weisbrot] show how a falling stock market could place pressure on both future Social Security payments and privatization schemes because earnings from the trust fund could actually fall."—Jeff Madrick, New York Review of Books

Adokelv

There are some reviews listed by people who seem to be under the spell of the illusory "free markets." They seem to think that putting "must-have" money into risky investments like the stock market is a great idea. They are missing an important statistical fact when they quote the return on the US stock market, and that is that any average you calculate for a given period will be less for non-elite investors. Through insider trading and superior knowledge, better off investors do far better than non-elite investors. This has been conclusively demonstrated by research into 401k returns and is called the "yield disparity." It is one major reason, in addition to companies contributing less to 401ks than they did to pensions, why so many people's retirement in the US is at risk. Furthermore, all the major investment banks know this, and they are still pushing for to take over the social security system for their own purposes.

As far as calling the authors left wing or crackpots. I can tell you the work done by Dean Baker and by the Center for Economic and Policy reseach is some of the best economics done in the country. They are one of the few economic institutes of note who have not sold out to large power interests. If you sit in the top 2% of wealth in the country, go ahead and call them names. You need to, because their facts can not be argued away so easily. However, the rest need to wake up. If you are part of the rest of population (the other 98%) of the country in income and agree with Social Security "reform" you either don't know what is intended for Social Security (i.e. handing it over to wall street) or did not understand the arguments expressed in this book.

Felolak

This book is a very welcome antidote to claims that Social Security is fiscally unsound and would well be privatized. The authors, economists, cite relevant facts to support their cogent arguments. The usefulness of this book in making clear some major Social Security issues compares very well with books by Robert Eisner (Social Security, More Not Less, and The Great Deficit Scares: the Federal Budget, Trade and Social Security) and with Countdown to Reform, by Henry Aaron and Robert Reischauer. Baker and Weisbrot's book also has valuable information and arguments on health care and other important issues.

Bele

I have often heard the jeremiads about social security that through shear repetition hope to gain acceptance. Most significantly we hear that demographics doom social security as the large aging population will dwarf the new workforce and push it into bankruptcy. Baker and Weisbrot use detailed actuarial and labor force statistics to demonstrate that increases in average worker income will more than offset the increases in future recipients. Perhaps Italy and Japan will have those issues but Americans have more children and more immigrants and we shall have sufficient workers to cover the costs of benefits. Why don't the conservative forecasters suggest that we raise the maximum incomes for SS tax if they are concerned about its solvency. I do not want to repeat the arguments of Baker and Weisbrot since they state the case so effectively. The other amazing aspect of the book is that it applies so well to the 2005 privatization debate even though it was writter 6-7 years earlier.

Bludworm

Social Security was never supposed to be a part of the general Federal Budget. Unlike most other federal programs, Social Security is self-funding.

The 1935 Social Security Act created a special payroll tax to be used exclusively for funding Social Security. General revenue funds were not to be used to pay Social Security benefits, and Social Security tax receipts were not to be used for any purpose other than Social Security. Payments into the Social Security system were to be kept separate from general revenue funds and credited to the individual accounts of those who made the contributions. The Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 re-enforced this.

(my own understanding of events is that during the Viet Nam war, Congress enacted a new law that lumped Social Security funds in with the general income. Then they could legally raid Social Security "surplus" because they just made it legal to do so. But, since I don't have specific data, I'm putting this in as an aside.)

In 1983, Congress enacted a Social Security tax increase to cover the ballooning benefit payments that would result from the retirement of the "baby boomers" beginning in 2010. The increase began generating large Social Security surpluses that didn't go unnoticed by the Reagan and Bush administrations which began "dipping" into Social Security revenues and using them for non-Social Security purposes. President Clinton followed suit, and every administration since Clinton. (I don't know why everyone blames the president when Congress is in charge of spending).

In his February 27, 2001 State of the Union speech, George W. Bush promised "to pay down 2 trillion in debt over the next 10 years,... "fund the nations priorities with money left over" and protect "all $2.6 trillion of the Social Security surplus for Social Security and for Social Security alone..." Within five months, Social Security surpluses were already being used to replace lost revenues created by huge tax cuts.

Approximately $1.5 trillion of our hard-earned Social Security Trust Fund dollars, legally set aside for our retirement, have been "borrowed" and spent without our knowledge or permission. The resulting I.O.U's represent 21.3% of our National Debt and have no value unless the government at some point decides to repay the money. President Bush admitted the iou's were "worthless".

Former Congressional Budget Office Director June O'Neill indicated that the trust fund "holds no real assets." "These so-called trust fund 'assets' simply reflect the accumulated sum of funds transferred from Social Security over the years to finance other government operations."

For additional information, try "The Looting of Social Security" by economist Allen W. Smith, Ph.D.

eBooks related to Social Security: The Phony Crisis