"How Occupy Stopped the Supercommittee"
Dean Baker: How Occupy stopped the supercommittee, by Dean Baker, CIF: Congress gave us a wonderful Thanksgiving present when we got word that the supercommittee "superheroes" were hanging up their capes. ... It is important to remember ... (by looking...
Contractionary Fiscal Policy is Contractionary
Robert Kuttner is unhappy with the Washington Post: Post Hoc Fallacy, by Robert Kuttner, Prospect: Wednesday’s Washington Post deserves some kind of perverse award for advocacy journalism—in this case, for advocating the proposition that dire economic consequences will ensue if...
"The Myth of the Wealthy Elderly"
Dean Baker: The Myth of the Wealthy Elderly, by Dean Baker: The austerity gang seeking cuts to Social Security and Medicare has been vigorously promoting the myth that the elderly are an especially affluent and privileged group. Their argument is...
SSA Historical Research Note #25: Ponzi Schemes vs. Social Security
As a follow-up to this: Ponzi Schemes vs. Social Security, SSA, January 2009: ...The Logic of Pay-As-You-Go Systems In contrast to a Ponzi scheme, dependent upon an unsustainable progression, a common financial arrangement is the so-called "pay-as-you-go" system. Some private...
Obama Offers to Cut Social Security
This is beyond disappointing: President Looks for Broader Deal on Deficit Cuts, by Carl Hulse, adn Mark Landler, NYTimes: Heading into a crucial negotiating session on a budget deal on Thursday, President Obama has raised his sights and wants to...
"Eight Facts about Social Security"
Ezra Klein on Social Security: 1) Over the next 75 years, Social Security’s shortfall is equal to about 0.7 percent of GDP. Source (PDF). 2) For the average 65-year-old retiring in 2010, Social Security replaced about 40 percent of working-age...
Will They Feel Betrayed?
I wonder what will happen politically when, after having a huge fight over Social Security and finally "saving" the program through some ill-advised bipartisan compromise, people realize that they've given up quite a bit, but the budget picture has hardly...
"Cockroach Ideas"
Paul Krugman is frustrated by cockroaches: Way back, when I spent a year in the government, an old hand told me that fighting bad ideas is like flushing cockroaches down the toilet; they just come right back. I’m having that...
"Cockroach Ideas"
Paul Krugman is frustrated by cockroaches: Way back, when I spent a year in the government, an old hand told me that fighting bad ideas is like flushing cockroaches down the toilet; they just come right back. I’m having that...
Pre-Payment for Services and Social Security
I keep seeing the argument that the way Social Security is funded -- the young provide the funds needed for the retirement of the elderly -- and the fact that tax collections can be viewed as one big pot of...
Social Security is *Not* Welfare
Robert Samuelson is making the same wrong argument about Social Security being welfare that he's been making for years: Why Social Security is welfare, by Robert J. Samuelson: ...Here is how I define a welfare program: First, it taxes one...
Social Security and Longevity
Those who want to cut Social Security benefits because people are living longer, e.g. through raising the retirement age, assume longevity is independent of the Social Security system. That assumption may be false: Study links social security improvements to longer...
