Social Security is the biggest Ponzi scheme ever perpetrated. It is worse than what Charles Ponzi or Bernie Madoff did.
Yet, we are told how important and moral SS is. For years, many have sounded the alarm about its coming collapse and insolvency, only to be met with cynics who think it is on a sound footing and all that is needed is higher taxation.
Surprisingly, not only did Paul Krugman warn about its pending insolvency, but he also inadvertently admitted that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme.
He wrote in a private email newsletter (emphasis ours):
Social Security is America’s oldest major social program, and it’s a crucial support for older Americans, a majority of whom depend on it for more than half their income, and a quarter of whom depend on it for almost all their income. The program is structured to look like a pension fund, where what you get out depends on what you paid in, but that’s bit of a Noble Lie. For the most part it’s a pay-as-you-go system, in which Americans of working age support retirees.
There’s nothing wrong with having such a system, but the long-term finances of Social Security look a bit dodgy, for two reasons. One is the aging of the population, with a rising ratio of older Americans to those of working age.All of this means that something will probably have to be done to keep Social Security sustainable. But what, exactly, should be done?
Good job to Robert Wenzel for the find!
By the way, does anyone have any updates about his child pornography problem?
Boy Andrew you are really stretching the truth here quit a bit.
Nowhere did Paul Krugman say Social Security was a Ponzi Scheme.
A Ponzi scheme (/ˈpɒnzi/, Italian: [ˈpontsi]; also a Ponzi game)[1] is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors.[2] The scheme leads victims to believe that profits are coming from product sales or other means, and they remain unaware that other investors are the source of funds. A Ponzi scheme can maintain the illusion of a sustainable business as long as new investors contribute new funds, and as long as most of the investors do not demand full repayment and still believe in the non-existent assets they are purported to own.
Who are the so called victims of Social Security?
Everyone pay all kinds of taxes and may see no direct benefit. Everyone who pays SS taxes and reaches the age required to receive benefits gets a monthly benefit check. SS is a welfare program so workers will have some dollars from the government in retirement.
The program has always been funded by current worker’s taxes to pay for current retiree’s benefits. No Fraud involved.
SS even has survivor’s benefits and disability benefits.
Even if Congress does nothing SS benefits after 2035 would still be 78% of promised benefits. This can be fixed very easily, by adjusting the tax, future benefit levels or reduced COLA raises.
I wish you and others would stop spreading falsehoods about the Social Security System. Millions of people have benefited from this program for over 80 years.
The only change I would like to see with the SS program is all employers pay the same amount in on each worker and then each worker would receive the same benefit check each month.
Large corporations who have many lower paid workers pay in less on those workers. Who then receive low SS benefits. While paying more in on their higher paid workers, who then receive higher SS benefits, that they may not really need as much in retirement.