Harvard economist Martin Feldstein (no relation I assume to MAD Magazine editor Al Feldstein) rode to influence in the Reagan administration on the coattails of the loony Milton Friedman’s unreal views about people becoming fashionable. Friedman’s the guy who, in a bit of silly mental jerking off, said a dollar is worth as much — has as much “marginal utility” — to a rich man as to a poor man.
You can blame Martin Feldstein for George Bush’s nonsensical insistence that Social Security needed a major overhaul. The idea was nonsensical because the arithmetic didn’t support the claim the system will inevitably collapse, and because the alternative was to go private.
People have 401K plans, so they’re already invested in the market for their retirement! It doesn’t make sense for people to put ALL of their retirement money into the stock market. Social Security is supposed to be a safety net. It works. Yes, it undoubtedly will need adjustments, but changing its very charter, and the way it operates, is simply wrong, wrong, wrong.
Most people can’t be professional money managers, and why should they be? It’s like saying everybody should do their own car repairs. Duh! NO! And even if somebody is very good at managing investments, or they hire somebody who is actually honest, there are times — like right now — when the market moves down and they lose money. And people much further down the economic ladder, who don’t have retirement plans, need a sure thing. Something to keep the wolf away from the door. That’s what Social Security is all about, Charlie Brown.
Privatizing Social Security was a very stupid idea from Martin Feldstein, a man who is supposed to be intelligent, but he sure doesn’t seem to think very clearly. Tuesday he proved that on the NPR program “On Point” with Tom Ashbrook, that originates at WBUR in Boston.
Did Feldstein say the tax cuts for the ultra-rich in Bush’s first term were a bad idea? No. Did he say the occupation in Iraq is draining America dry? No. Did he say the ideas of Milton Friedman needed to be retired? No. He said we’re in a recession and blamed the problems on Alan Greenspan’s final years as Federal Reserve chairman, and he said the recent incentive checks didn’t work because everybody salted them away in the bank. Talk about being out of touch. Fortunately, a caller named Judy was incensed by Feldstein’s informed yet idiotic academic blather and she got on the air to tell him a thing or two.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/JUL/OnPointFeldstein.mp3]
Way to go, Judy.
