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Steve Greenberg's avatar

To clarify, it is not a matter of whether the government can pay the money obligations of Social Security. The question is if when the retirees use that money to buy things, will the economy be able to supply what they are trying to buy.

The non-productive part of the economy includes the part of the economy that collects debt interest payments from the people. Paying interest on debt makes banks richer, but it does not increase the economy's ability to produce what people want to buy.

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Brad Bulger's avatar

The most common misunderstanding I hear from friends & family is even worse than this - that they have "already paid for" their Social Security and Medicare, as if they were drawing money out of a savings account they'd built up while working.

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