Social Security & Medicare Notes: August 2005

Friday, August 05, 2005

It's fiscal wigout time!

The New Republic offers a really silly proposal for how the federal government should be financed.

It is quite breathtaking in its lack of connection to any form of reality. Go read Kevin Drum for a brief and devastating analysis of the article.

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Private retirement accounts

Mark Kleiman offers thoughts by Steve Teles on private retirement accounts.

Steve provides an interesting proposal for increasing savings in America, but I would have to ask "Why?"

The problem in the American economy is not a lack of investable funds. If Americans save more, then the money will be placed by our superb financial markets in the investments that promise the best return. Those "best returns" are not today in America. They are overseas, often in China.

Americas' problem is turning the American economy around so that it again becomes the best possible investment for funds. That is more of a problem of lack of trained labor, the absence of sufficient science and research, lack of infrastructure and the failure of most American management to work to build new products and markets rather than merely cutting costs to keep profits high.