Posted on 05/19/2004 6:30:05 AM PDT by treeclimber
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan was given a vote of confidence from President George W. Bush on Tuesday when he was nominated to serve a fifth term
(Excerpt) Read more at mensnewsdaily.com ...
Bump to that. Expect it to happen very soon now that he has been given the position again.
Sepculation on the finance shows indicated that interest rates are going up at the next meeting to avoid inflation.
Greenspam's answer to any crisis is to increase taxes or cut benefits. He is the author of the 1983 Social Security bailout that raised the tax rate and the ceiling by multiples. That bailout was followed by another in the early 90's and now they want to do it again.
Bottom line: Social Security is a Ponzi scheme and no amount of tax raising will make it a workable plan. The alternative is to gradually phase it out, replacing it with required payroll deductions of a similar amount that then go into a personal account that you own and can pass on to your children, if you wish.
Leave the setup in place for people over 50 since they dont have enough working years left to make a total switch over to a private plan, but a 30 year old could retire a millionaire if he/she could keep the money they tax away from him/her under the current scheme.
How about 100% as promised for anyone over 55, 80% for 50-55, 60% for 45-50, 40% for 40-45, 20% for 35-40 and nothing out of the current scheme for anyone under 30. Everyone keeps paying, but gradually shift $$ from Social Security to our own accounts as the # of original receipients shrinks. At some point in the future, only a minimum of $$ will be needed for the original receipients-the rest of the money would be turbo-charging your own account.
IT IS OUR MONEY, GREENSPAN!!!
There aren't too many people in this world more conservative than Alan Greenspan. He's done a good job, and I think he does what he has to do to keep his job where he can make the greatest impact. After all, he knows he can't call for the elimination of the Fed as its chairman, despite that he has vigorously denounced its existence in the past (See, Gold and Economic Freedom, by Alan Greenspan).
All in all, he does well. Sometimes he makes mistakes, but so does everyone. C'est la vie.
C'est la vie?
Greenspan seems to always be reacting to events too late. He has been fighting the inflation boogeyman for 20 years, wrongly thinking that a prosperous and growing economy is bad. He raises rates when things get going. IN his own words, its his job to 'take away the punch bowl just when the party is getting going'. He had jacked up rates to over 6% in the early days of the Bush administration and had to lower them about 10 times to just 1%. That is how wrong he was.
I can suffer through some of his mistakes, but Social Security is a major boondoggle that is robbing us blind and he, along with Congress wont think of making any changes that would benefit the younger workers.
Its a Ponzi scheme.
He has learned to "play the game". It's hard to believe that he was an Ayn Rand Devotee. You can't believe any stats
coming out of the Fed: The CPI figure is doctored as well
as the inflation figures.
This is for the sake of appearance.
In actuality the Fed is desperately re-flating to avoid economic meltdown.
BUMP
The word "meltdown" has me troubled. What do you mean, specifically?
I'm not arguing with you about social security. You're talking to a person who thinks that taxes--all taxes (that's right, all of them)--should be eliminated.
However, human beings are not infallible and unfortunately, the closer to perfection a human being becomes, the more his mistakes and errors are highlighted and ridiculed. We all make mistakes, and that includes Alan Greenspan. Since we're no longer on the Gold Standard, inflation is a major concern. It destroys the value of property, and it has to be guarded against--he raised rates one too many times before, but it's a difficult balance to strike. But all in all, he does nice work in an absurdly difficult job.
put the Fed under the Executive or Legislative branch of our government ...
The fed will be complicit in this process but they need a 'cover' of small interest rate increases for appearances sake.
BUMP
And Greenspan gets to look like the "bad guy"?
The cumulative tenure of the current Associate Justices and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is now the longest in history-by far. No Associate Justice has been confirmed since 1993, and I do not believe that the present Senate is capable of confirming one.
Politics is becoming frozen in this nation. Only four to eight percent of the voters are capable of changing their minds in a Presidential race. In an average congressional district, the percentage of voters that are "available" is under 1%.
A little more sclerosis, a little more rigidity, a little less constructive attention to the real problems and issues of the People - that's when the shooting starts.
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