That Old Social Security Magic

摘要

If last week's sparring over social security is an example, Al Gore and George W. Bush shouldn't be competing for the job of chief executive of the United States. Instead, they should be competing for chief magician. Or chief anesthesiologist. Because they're both using sleight of hand to "solve" the Social Security problem without inflicting any pain on anyone. A neat trick, considering that the traditional prescription for solving the problem of paying for baby boomers' retirement without busting the federal budget involves pain: reducing the growth of payments to future retirees in vari- ous ways, raising Social Security taxes or both. The very kind of program proposed by the Greenspan Commission in 1983 and adopted by Congress to fix Social Security's problems the last time around. But you don't get elected by preaching pain—or at least, Bush and Gore don't think you do. Bush's magic solution to the Social Security problem is to set up individual accounts for younger workers, who will make so much money investing in stocks that everything will be just wonderful.