Greenspan Should Read His Own Speeches

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-11-1999
Greenspan Should Read His Own Speeches
2
Fri, 09-10-2004 - 12:15am
Alan Greenspan Should Read His Speeches More Carefully

by Christian E. Weller and Terri Shaw September 7, 2004 Download entire report in PDF

Social Security scare tactics are experiencing a revival. On August 27, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan concluded that "we have promised more than our economy has the ability to deliver to retirees" and on September 2, President George W. Bush argued that "ith the huge Baby Boom generation approaching retirement, many of our children and grandchildren understandably worry whether Social Security will be there when they need it." And because Social Security and Medicare are supposedly unsustainable, both Greenspan and Bush have supported privatization and benefit cuts. Of course, Greenspan is no stranger to such recommendations, for it was his counsel to President Ronald Reagan that led to Social Security benefit cuts and increases in the retirement age in the early 1980s.

Interestingly, Greenspan apparently did not read his own speech carefully enough. A closer look at his recent remarks and at data from the Social Security and Medicare trustees shows that the Fed chairman's and the president's conclusion are not supported by the facts. Social Security and Medicare are affordable and sustainable. Moreover, Greenspan touched on three important ways to address the systems' long-term financial needs that will not include sharp benefit cuts or privatization.

Download entire report in PDF:

http://www.americanprogress.org/atf/cf/{E9245FE4-9A2B-43C7-A521-5D6FF2E06E03}/alan_greenspan.pdf

dablacksox


Cynic: a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.---Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-23-2004
Fri, 09-10-2004 - 12:45am
Whether privatizaion is needed to fund SS or not, it is an idea whose time has come. The stock market has consistently outperformed the social security trust fund since its inception. Why should we be forced to place our retirement dollars in a losing proposition? It seems utterly ridiculous to me that self supporting, adult human beings are not allowed to invest their own retirement funds AS THEY SEE FIT rather than handing them over to the government to be mismanaged into the smallest possible return on investement. Silly.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-11-1999
Fri, 09-10-2004 - 12:54am
Social Security isn't a retirement program, it's an insurance program.

http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=old&doc=68

dablacksox


Cynic: a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.---Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary.