I, like most Americans (I suspect), followed the media and politician’s constant drum beat that Social Security was doomed. “Baby boomers are going to retire”, “the ratio of workers paying in to retirees getting benefits is getting lower”, “we need to privatize the program” they said. On the surface the argument seems logical, except for one thing… the problem doesn’t exist, at least according to economist and NYT columnist Paul Krugman.
As Krugman says, “socialsecuritymedicareandmedicaid” is in trouble, and that’s what these reports have been referring to the entire time. When you focus strictly on Social Security, Krugman points out the program is actually projecting to fair much better than the government’s debt, as a percentage of GDP. Medicare and Medicaid, on the other hand are set to explode – due mainly to increasing (skyrocketing) health care costs.
Now we just need the folks running for President and the clueless folks who question them at debates to get a clue.
Here’s Krugman’s latest blog posts on the subject:
“The Social Security Obsession”:http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/28/the-social-security-obsession-again/
“Long Run Budget Math”:http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/17/long-run-budget-math/
“Socialsecuritymedicareandmedicaid”:http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/socialsecuritymedicareandmedicaid/
“Why Barack, Why?”:http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/why-barack-why/
As I’ve said before, I loves me some Paul Krugman. The man tells it like it is!
Related posts:
- More Krugman Goodness
- Krugman Catches McCain's Exaggerations
- Krugman on the Return of Depression Economics
- More on Iran; 2008 election tidbits
- What Boom?
Tags: krugman, medicaid, medicare, ny times, social security
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