Social Security

Welfare for old people who already have money. :)

A kind of Pension/Insurance? Bah, mostly just a Welfare/Transfer Program.

Arnold Kling considers some possibilities. (2003) It is fair to conclude that the Social Security problem is largely an artifact of the retirement age. Raising the retirement age to something like 73 would make Social Security quite manageable.

A big factor is the Retirement Age used to calculate when benefits are given out. Does it make sense that it's still 65 (going up to 67 in 2012 I think)?

Why is there no Means Testing?

Benefits grow based on wages, and should instead probably be pegged to general CPI Inflation.

Why do you need a Social Security Number, if the money you get back really has nothing to do with how much you put in? When I took civics/Social Studies in school, a teacher said that someone suggested eliminating the numbers to FDR, on the basis that managing them just created pointless expense. And he replied that it was important for the american people to feel like they were putting money into their own account, like an enforced savings plan.