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Politics : Impeach George W. Bush -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Thomas M. who wrote (17223)	11/26/2002 11:43:31 AM
From: Thomas M.	Respond to of 93284

Myth: The Social Security system is expected to face enormous strains starting next decade as Americans live longer and the large baby boomer generations starts to retire. Reality: The retirement of the baby boomers has been long anticipated. To help deal with the costs, the program has been building up a large surplus, which is currently more than $1.3 trillion. According to the most recent Social Security trustees report, the program will be able to pay all benefits until the year 2041 with no changes whatsoever. The projections also show that Social Security will always be able to pay a higher benefit, in today's dollars, than that received by current retirees, even if no changes are ever made. While this means that it is now possible for Social Security to go nearly 40 years without any tax increases, it was necessary to raise Social Security taxes in every decade from the '40s to the '80s. By this standard, the program faces less strain than it did at any point in its first five decades of existence. It is also important to note that the Social Security trustees projections assume that productivity will grow at a rate of just 1.6 percent annually. By contrast, many experts, such as Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, now believe that the long-term rate of productivity growth is between 2.0 and 2.75 percent. If Mr. Greenspan's assumptions about productivity growth were used in the projections, the program would be able to pay full benefits for 50 years, or longer, with no changes whatsoever. tompaine.com