Social Security Ponzi Scheme? Perhaps, but That's Not the Problem | Jagadeesh Gokhale | Cato Institute: Commentary

Social Security Ponzi Scheme? Perhaps, but That's Not the Problem | Jagadeesh Gokhale | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'That suggests that the program's various redistributive features do little to alter the distribution of economic well being. Other studies also refute the idea that Social Security is successful in providing social insurance through its redistributive provisions. In yet another study, I show how Social Security's current rules can prevent people from becoming richer over generations. Social Security's rules induce low income households to save very little through retirement, thereby preventing them bequeathing wealth to their children — unlike children of rich families.'

What Defense Cuts? | Benjamin H. Friedman and Caitlin Talmadge | Cato Institute: Commentary

What Defense Cuts? | Benjamin H. Friedman and Caitlin Talmadge | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Compared with 2011 spending, the deal requires only a minor trim in security budgets: $4.5 billion in 2012 and $2.5 billion in 2013. And that reduction — pocket change in a $529 billion annual defense budget — need not even come from the Pentagon.'

'Because the bill doesn't cap war spending, Congress may evade caps by shifting base spending to that account. The past decade has given appropriators ample experience in loading war bills with base spending. Already, Senate appropriators seem to have slipped more than $6 billion of expenses previously in the base budget into the 2012 war request.'

'The "doomsday" scenario would only return America to its 2007-level of defense spending.'

How Obama's Last Stimulus Bill Became a Comedy of Errors | Jim Powell | Cato Institute: Commentary

How Obama's Last Stimulus Bill Became a Comedy of Errors | Jim Powell | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'In 2009, his $825 billion extravaganza, touted as an emergency measure, targeted sectors of the economy with the lowest unemployment rates — namely, government employees (2.3 percent unemployed), in particular those in schooling and health care (3.8 percent unemployed). By contrast, unemployment rates in manufacturing and construction were 8.3 percent and 15.2 percent respectively.'

'Even if one were to accept the original claims that a million jobs were "saved or created," the total amount of stimulus money spent was about $160 billion, which would mean each job cost taxpayers $160,000! In fact, when all the undocumented claims are discarded, the cost per government job is likely to be closer to what Cato Institute economist Alan Reynolds has estimated: $646,000. In some cases, the cost went much higher, as when nearly $6 million was spent to save just three jobs at Burson-Marsteller, a public relations firm headed by Hillary Clinton's former pollster Mark Penn. Cost per job saved: $2 million.'