Economist Calls Entitlements A Massive Ponzi Scheme And Says US Is Actually $211 Trillion In Debt

TBI ^ | Simone Foxman

[blam]

Image: Yahoo!

In an interview with NPR, former Reagan economic adviser Laurence Kotlikoff said the U.S.'s "true indebtedness" amounts to $211 trillion.

That's more than 15 times the $14 trillion official figure.

"We're focused just on the official debt, so we're trying to balance the wrong books," Kotlikoff said, naming Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for the skyrocketing unofficial figure.

[unkus]

Unpleasant things come to mind.

[rogue yam]

Dang!

This guy is as dumb as Rick Perry!

[kittymyrib]

This figure should be used by conservatives in all interviews, campaign ads, and debate stats. Americans should be told the unvarnished truth about how pathetically broke we are after politicians of both parties have bought votes with our great- grandchildren’s pay checks. That is stealing from generations yet unborn. What kind of future are they supposed to have after we have spent every dime they will ever make?

[RC2]

The $211 Trillion needs to be broken down at to what is causing it. Entitlements need to be fixed but that is not the only problem.

[econjack]

We've got 78 million baby boomers who are poised to collect, in about 15 to 20 years, about $40,000 per person. Multiply 78 million by $40,000 — you're talking about more than $3 trillion a year just to give to a portion of the population...

I thought the Baby Boomers were those people who were born right after WWII. If so, according to this guy, those people are between 45 and 50 right now, since they expect to retire in 15 to 20 years. If I subtract 45 from 2011, don't I get 1966 as the year these "baby boomers" were born? If he screws up that calculation, how does he come up with all the other numbers? All this seems to be incredibly sloppy research at the very least.

[aces]

Totally rediculous, we have become an economic fake house of cards because of politics, the American people need the truth, we are broke and soon we will have no options except to be a banana republic, we must take ALL avenues for the federal G to support itself and make it dependent on states to fund washington..this is sooooo stupid..
I’d rather have dirt roads and own them than owe 10 generations an apology because of greed...

[no-to-illegals]

Does the $211 trillion figure include the $47 trillion trade debt?

[mbynack]

To quote the liberals that have been writing to the local paper, “The US economic problems are all because of the tea party”.

[Born to Conserve]

That makes perfect sense. I’ve been figuring the true inflation rate is about ten times the official inflation rate.

[LearsFool]

Yeah, so? What does that mean? Just how much IS $211,000,000,000,000.00, other than “a lot”?

Someone needs to put this in practical terms. In other words, explain the pain we and our children and their children will have to bear because of this. Otherwise it’s nothing more than a big number.

[proxy_user]

It’s not really debt, because it’s not legally binding. Congress can repeal any and all entitlement programs at any time, by a simple majority vote.

[OpusatFR]

We haven’t drawn it out yet, so give me and my spouse the $280K that was paid in by us and our employers and I will forgo my social security.

....crickets...wind....silence

[DannyTN]

He does need to break this down.
He claims to have netted future tax receipts, but doesn’t mention interest income which gets compounded.

We need to see his assumptions. At what age does he assume people are retiring, and how old do they live.
What’s the liability for those already retired where we aren’t getting additional funds.
What’s the liability for those still working, where we are getting funds and there is time for those funds to grow.

[no-to-illegals]

Someone needs to put this in practical terms.

Reference and read world history 1920 - 1940. Maybe it will not end up this way, this time, maybe.

[AFreeBird]

Obviously not Zerø’s new economic adviser.

[Mr. Jeeves]

$211 trillion if the government tries to keep every phony promise made by every phony politician to every phony interest group for the last 40 years. Which it won't. To paraphrase Mish Shedlock, "What cannot be paid out WILL not be paid out."

[DannyTN]

I agree that we need to be looking at the unfunded liability. But we need to be looking at the cost vs projected income.

We probably need to split out Medicaid too. Unlike SSA and Medicare, Care for the indigent is a normal responsibility of a government. So that piece is sort of like saying I spend $15 a day on food, and since I expect to live to be 80. I owe $175,000 for my future food expenses.

SSA, Disability Insurance, Survivor’s insurance, and Medicare should all be treated as separate agencies with their own trust fund. And should be managed and regulated like an insurance company.

[RC2]

He also needs to figure in the $2.5 Trillion that is owed SS. They seem to forget that small fact. They should also figure in the idea of not letting the government borrow future SS funds to use in the general fund. If they did that, where would they stand?

[Flying Circus]

Baby boomers are the postwar bulge in birthrates that lasted roughly 20 years. It is generally accepted that it runs from 1946 to 1966. I haven’t looked deeply enough at his numbers, but if he is sloppy it isn’t in his definition of boomers.