Just two comments.
What’s the difference between LBJ using Social Security for “general government waste” and a company like (say) GM looting the pension plan of its employees?
To my mind, those who point out that privatizing Social Security “can’t work” are just saying that government can do a better job with our money than we can. In the current context, that is a really weird point of view.
Or — put the question another way. If you received (tax-free) 15% of your paycheck and were only required to invest it SOMEWHERE, you don’t think you could take care of your own retirement? Let’s say you make $50,000. 15 percent of that is $7500 per year. Heck, put it in savings and you’d have $75,000 after just ten years. Put it in T-Bills and you’d be doing better. Put it in equities and you’ll be doing MUCH better in the long run. I’m not going to get out Excel, and I’m not an accountant, but with interest compounded and re-invested, I don’t see how you could wind up with much less than $600,000 — on top of what you save on your own. Remember, that 15 percent is “pure gravy”. If you personally save another 10 percent on top of that, you’ll have over a million when you retire. And — the real kicker here — it’s YOURS. You can leave it to your children so they don’t have to begin at zero.
Of course, most people spend every penny they can lay their hands on, so individual responsibility would come into play. And so ideas like this would never win in an election.
