tagged w/ Ludwig von Mises
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Irrefutable proof. I cannot believe there are some Americans who still don't believe that he is a Keynesian. Just because the mainstream media never calls him a Keynesian. Time to wake up and look at the proof. Obama is a Keynesian if I've ever seen a Keynesian. This video is 100 percent proof that he is a Keynesian. Do your own research!
http://youtu.be/FREWUOk9nTsIrrefutable proof. I cannot believe there are some Americans who still don't... more
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*Original Posting: Wednesday, April 7, 2010 by Mark R. Crovelli
I read Counterpunch.com on a regular basis for two reasons. First, I visit the site for its extremely good articles discussing the foreign-policy follies of Western governments. Few sites feature harder-hitting and more consistently anti-interventionist critiques of the policies pursued by Western governments. The second reason I like to visit Counterpunch is to give myself a good laugh. Nothing in the world amuses me more than when self-styled "progressives" attempt to discuss economics.
During my most recent perusal of the Counterpunch archives, I stumbled upon an article by Dave Lindorff entitled "Social Security Scare Tactics." The article made me laugh so hard that whiskey came out of my nose (which is, by the way, excruciatingly painful).
For those of you who don't want the punch line of the article spoiled, stop reading right now. For everyone else, put down whatever it is that you're drinking, because here it is: there's nothing seriously wrong with Social Security! That's right, Lindorff apparently really believes that all of the dire talk about the inevitable and impending bankruptcy of Social Security this year is nothing more than scaremongering designed to manufacture a "fake crisis." Don't get up off the floor just yet, because there's more: Lindorff apparently really believes that the Social Security "trust fund" actually has real money in it, instead of a bunch of worthless IOUs from the Treasury Department!
Now that I've spoiled the punch line, let's have a look at the evidence Lindorff gives for his knee-slapping claim that Social Security is not in dire straits. I use the word "evidence" rather loosely here, however, because Lindorff apparently doesn't think that any actual evidence is necessary to substantiate his claim.
One would think, for example, that any claims that an institution could easily be made fiscally sound would require substantiation by looking at the institution's actual books. Specifically, one expects that such a claim would be substantiated by looking at the actual assets and actual outstanding liabilities of this socialist totem in order to determine whether it is even possible for Social Security to live up to all of the promises it has made to future beneficiaries. For Lindorff, however, looking at the books is not necessary, because he somehow already knows that there's nothing fundamentally and irreparably wrong with Social Security.
For those people not gifted with accounting ESP like Lindorff, Social Security's unfunded liabilities are conservatively estimated to be around $17.5 trillion. Oh yeah, and that "trust fund" that Lindorff mentions as if it were really overflowing with saved money — all the money has already been spent by Congress. As you can see, the numbers are not exactly as rosy as Lindorff's ESP has led him to believe.
What is really interesting is that even while Lindorff is trying to make the case that Social Security's fiscal condition is not all that serious, he concedes that Social Security will indeed go bankrupt this year. He writes:
"So with beneficiaries rising faster than anticipated, and the total national payroll in sharp decline, of course things have gone negative for Social Security earlier than originally anticipated."
One would think that an institution going "negative" (i.e., bankrupt) is a sign that there is something fundamentally flawed with it. For Lindorff, however, bankruptcy is nothing to get ourselves worked up about, especially since the bankruptcy is only caused by the demographic problem posed by the baby boomers.
Lindorff thinks the boomers are only a "demographic wave that will eventually pass." He's right — we only have around 30 more years until the "wave" passes. Thirty years of bankruptcy is nothing that need trouble us!
To mention that Social Security is completely bankrupt right now and cannot possibly pay out everything it has promised is nothing but a "scare tactic." One wonders if it occurred to Lindorff to make the same claim when Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers went bankrupt two years ago. Don't worry everyone, bankruptcy — I mean, "turning negative" — is nothing too serious! Anyone who talks about Lehman's complete "insolvency," or, better still, Bernie Madoff's "insolvency," is just a scaremonger! That's right, Lindorff uses scare quotes around the word "insolvency," as though the word itself is inflammatory.
Read more at link...*Original Posting: Wednesday, April 7, 2010 by Mark R. Crovelli
I read... more
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