Maya MacGuineas of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget debunks some Social Security myths in an op-ed piece for the McClatchy syndicate.
Check it out here.
Monday, August 11, 2014
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Occasional comments on the economics and politics of Social Security policy by Andrew Biggs.
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About me
- Andrew G. Biggs
- I am a Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, where my work focuses on Social Security policy. Previously I held several positions within the Social Security Administration, including Deputy Commissioner for Policy and principal Deputy Commissioner. Prior to that I was a Social Security Analyst at the Cato Institute. In 2005 I worked on Social Security reform at the White House National Economic Council, and in 2001 I was on the staff of the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security. My Bachelor's degree is from the Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland. I have Master's degrees from Cambridge University and the University of London and a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science. I can be contacted at andrew.biggs @ aei.org.
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1 comment:
Andrew,
A large part of the breakdown in the debate about Social Security is that we aren't talking about the same things.
She isn't debunking anything. She is simply stating that her side is correct.
If you look at the issue of whether Social Security adds to the deficit, she is talking about a unified budget deficit. It is a deficit figure that is almost specifically constructed to make SS 'add to the deficit'.
At the heart of the issue is whether SS is really just general tax revenue. In her world, SS's revenue isn't SS's. It is general revenue. So when SS has a surplus, it isn't a surplus it just general revenue to be spent.
Her argument is that SS is just general revenue. Hence it has added to the deficit since 2010. Frankly given the way the law is written that is a pretty silly approach to the system.
Only in DC, a place completely divorced from reality, can a system which has been actuarially unsound since day 1 lower your deficit.
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