As to Social Security, here is something I would like to see talked about more. For many decades Social Security took in more than it spent. The surplus as I understand it, by law, was invested in T bills. The Federal government is now paying interest on those T Bills to Social Security, but at some point new payroll taxes plus that interest will fall short of the amount that Social Security must pay out each month.
Social Security was never designed, far as I can tell, to function by "living off" the interest from its savings. That interest was a natural by product caused by generating a surplus over decades and since there was a surplus piling up of course it could and should earn interest. Now we talk about the graying of America, but isn't that a moving demographic bump that will work it's way through our population over the next few decades? Mortality dictates that even the Boomers won't be around for ever. The non-white population tends to have slightly larger families and that population is growing as a percentage of Americans - in particular Latinos are. So won't Social Security at some pending point move out of the red on a monthly basis again?
I admit that I don't have the figures, but it seems likely to me that after generating Trillions of dollars in surpluses over decades, that Social Security has the money saved to supplement outgoing payments to aging boomers until they like all those before them cross that rainbow bridge. That of course assumes that the money that Social Security piled up for just such a contengency was made available to use when the need actually arises. The period of time it will be needed is not permanent, just like those surplus decades that went before was not permanent. Will mid 21st Century America still be "graying"?
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