Yeah, I have the same feelings that David and Andrew have. Maybe the answer is shorter posts? If so, here goes:
Steven Landsburg of Slate makes an observation about A Christmas Carol that probably differs from what your junior-high school English teacher taught:
Though Dickens might not have recognized it, the primary moral of A Christmas Carol is that there should be no limit on IRA contributions.
Nobody else seems to recognize this as a primary solution to our Social Security problem, either. The proposed private Social Security accounts sound to me pretty much exactly the same as current IRA and 401(k) plans (with the exception that they are compulsory). So why not save everyone lots of time and energy and simply eliminate limits on IRA and 401(k) contributions - and then just call them private Social Security accounts?
Comments (1)
I like this argument but suspect it will be rejected for two reasons. First, it will be said that it favors "the rich," who presumably will be able to contribute more than the rest of the people. Second, it will lower revenue to the treasury. Social Security taxes don't come off the top the way contributions to IRAs do. And one other thing: simple solutions don't seem to have much of a place in gov't.
Posted by Tom | March 1, 2005 4:04 PM
Posted on March 1, 2005 16:04