Even without changes, program will remain solvent for years.
THE MAD RUSH to fix Social Security is unwarranted, says a new issue brief (PDF) from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), and could lead to drastic measures with severe impact on millions of Americans approaching retirement age.
“Misinformation about Social Security has led many to believe that Social Security is in immediate danger of insolvency” said Dean Baker, a co-director of CEPR and author of the report. “But the program will be fully solvent for almost three more decades. Furthermore, even if no changes are ever made, a child born in 2010 can expect to see a benefit that is more than 50 percent larger in real terms than what current retirees receive today.”
The brief also notes that near-retirees have already been victims of wage stagnation in their working lifetime and have then seen much of their wealth destroyed with the collapse of the housing bubble and the resulting stock market plunge. The brief advocates delaying benefit cuts to protect this generation from further harm.
The argument that cutting Social Security benefits will reassure the financial market is a “con game,” according to the brief, because “no one knows exactly what will reassure financial markets.” They point out that none of the people making this argument is among the small group of analysts successful at market forecasting.
