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Politics : Ask Michael Burke
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To: Skeeter Bug who wrote (84961)11/7/2000 9:15:37 PM
From: Freedom Fighter  Read Replies (1) of 132070
 
Skeeter,

We have to remove Medicare from the equation. There are a bunch of things I don't like about it, but it is clearly insurance. Some people collect very little and others would be wiped out 100 times over without it. That doesn't mean that we couldn't have devised a private or better version, but there's no way we are going to be able to crunch the numbers.

Here's an article on SS that covers what I was talking about when I said that one entire generation made out like bandits at the expense of everyone that followed.

web.mit.edu

Basically it really shouldn't be too difficult to estimate the return on SS. The rate of return is pretty much equal to real GDP growth minus the cost of administration.

Clearly, many people can get a much better rate of return than that on private investments. But I would venture to say that the whole country as a group couldn't do all that much better. If everyone put everything into traditionally higher yielding investments, the long term rate of return on them would fall. Sort of like where stocks are now.

Keep in mind, I am not defending SS. I'm a libertarian and would prefer that I have the freedom to choose my own retirement path. However, I don't think the system is as terrible as many think. It's just a "little" stupid.

Wayne
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