Social insecurity

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The latest liberal spin on Social Security is that there is no problem. Of course, there is no problem with any obligation if you are willing to welsh when time comes to pay it.

Politically, the bottom line of this approach is that President Bush's plan is "not a magic bullet," in the words of BusinessWeek magazine. When people start talking about how this or that policy "is no panacea" or "not a magic bullet," you know their argument is not serious.

Why don't we all stipulate, once and for all, that no policy on any subject, anywhere or anytime, is a panacea or a magic bullet? Then we can start talking sense like adults.

If we are serious, we can compare one alternative to another, instead of comparing one alternative to perfection. How are the private retirement accounts the president proposes different from the Social Security system as it exists now?

The biggest difference seems to get the least attention: With private accounts, money is invested in the economy, creating additional wealth, from which pensions can be paid. With Social Security, the money is spent as soon as it gets to Washington.

Is it better to invest for the future or to keep spending the Social Security taxes now and leave it to someone in the future to figure out what to do when today's young workers retire and there is not enough money to pay them what was promised?

Many people are unaware that the money taken out of their paychecks for Social Security is not -- repeat, not -- being put aside to pay for their retirement. That money is paying for people who are retired right now, and funds left over are spent by politicians in Washington for anything from farm subsidies to congressional junkets.

There is a legal and accounting fiction called the "Social Security Trust Fund." All this means is that the Social Security system gets government bonds in exchange for the Social Security tax money spent today instead of saved. But you cannot spend and save the same money, no matter what accounting gimmicks you use.

Government bonds are not an investment that adds to the country's wealth. They are a claim on future taxpayers. Without those bonds, future taxpayers would still be on the hook to pay future Social Security pensions not covered by future Social Security taxes. The bonds change nothing.

The other big difference between privatized pensions and Social Security is that the individual owns the pension he paid for: not a fine philosophical distinction but a major practical difference.