There’s no way to sugar-coat it. Social Security is going to fail. There are, of course, ways to possibly extend its life for a few years, or even decades, but ultimately, like all Ponzi schemes, it will collapse. By the federal government’s and the Social Security Board of Trustees’ own admissions, the Social Security program will be paying out more than it takes in in just 4 years. At current rates (and assuming the federal government fully pays back the more than $5 trillion it “borrowed” from Social Security’s accounts), the program will be completely out of money in about 17 years. What does this situation mean for current working Americans? Is there any way to solve this problem? Join Antony Davies and James Harrigan as they discuss this and more on this week’s episode of Words and Numbers.
Subscribe to the Words and Numbers podcast via iTunes.
Quick Hits
Splitting up Amazon
Former Walmart US CEO says Congress should consider splitting up Amazon
www.cnbc.com
National pencil day
NATIONAL PENCIL DAY - March 30
nationaldaycalendar.com
Foolishness of the Week: Cancer warnings on coffee, vacancy tax
Why California's Lawsuit Industry Wants You to Think Coffee Causes Cancer | Walter Olson
fee.org
Cancer Warning Labels Based on California's Proposition 65
www.cancer.org
De Blasio eyes vacancy tax for greedy landlords seeking top-dollar
nypost.com
Topic of the Week: Social Security
Social Security Administration Spending Tops $1 Trillion for First Time
www.cnsnews.com
Summary: Actuarial Status of the Social Security Trust Funds, July 2017
www.ssa.gov
Social Security Trust Fund Cash Flows and Reserves
www.ssa.gov
The Future Financial Status of the Social Security Program
www.ssa.gov
Social Security Online History Pages
www.ssa.gov
How Privatized Social Security Works in Galveston
www.nytimes.com
You Asked: Can Kentucky Teachers Retirement System participants receive Social Security?
www.state-journal.com
Why Aren't All Teachers Covered By Social Security?
www.teacherpensions.org
Widespread teacher absences close Kentucky schools amid anger over pension bill
www.cbsnews.com
Follow James and Antony on Twitter.
Join the Words and Numbers Backstage FB group, where the conversation continues.
Antony Davies
Antony Davies is associate professor of economics at Duquesne University and Chief Academic Officer at FreedomTrust.
He is a member of the FEE Faculty Network.
This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.
