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 M¢25  Funded By Mahalo ? |  May 11, 2009 01:59 AM

I was just thinking. Isn't social security a Ponzi Scheme?

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Uninteresting: albanian

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mattb4rd mattb4rd
 
May 11, 2009 02:17 AM | view on twitter
Of course it is. The biggest on the planet, in fact.
Source(s):
personal knowledge
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/economicsunbound/archives/2008/12/is...


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albanian albanian
 
May 12, 2009 01:28 AM
Personal knowledge? You mean you were ready to retire and they defaulted?

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mattb4rd mattb4rd
 
May 12, 2009 08:45 AM
no. It means I know a ponzi scheme when I see one.

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whitedove0... whitedove0...
 
May 11, 2009 02:26 AM | view on twitter
Well, according to Wikipedia a Ponzi Scheme is "a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to investors from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors rather than from any actual profit earned."

The Social Security administration claims that it isn't. But... you know what? I think you might be right.

For more on the issue, you can check this wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_debate_(United_States)#Criticism_of_Social_Security_as_a_Ponzi_Scheme

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hushnow hushnow
 
May 11, 2009 07:46 AM
I thought that wikipedia also described Social Security as a Ponzi Scheme... at least that's what my husband was telling me. I'll have to check though.

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albanian albanian
 
May 12, 2009 01:26 AM
If you believe everything you read in Wikipedia, you are so gullible you will probably even fall for a real Ponzi scheme someday.

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albanian albanian
 
May 12, 2009 01:06 AM | view on twitter
No it is not. There are some superficial similarities but there are major differences. A main one is that social security does not give people high rates of returns, or any returns at all unless they reach retirement age. The main one, however, is that social security is not fraudulent, it is quite able to pay the promised amount. There is no chance that the social security system will go bankrupt because it is backed by the government. The baseless fears and rumors spread by people who do not like taxes or big government just are not true. At worst the social security system will have to delay retirement by a few months, or raise the tax rates. But this is not necessarily what will happen, those are just worst case scenarios.

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mattb4rd mattb4rd
 
May 12, 2009 08:51 AM
What makes you think that the rate of return defines a ponzi scheme?

"There is no chance that the social security system will go bankrupt because it is backed by the government"

This government is the worst fiscal manager in the history of modern man and is upside down in debt.

Social Security is a perfect example of Francois de la Rouchefecauld's quote "We often do good so that we may do evil with impunity"

It's theft, but if you're against it, you somehow hate old people.

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