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LET'S END, NOT MEND, SOCIAL SECURITY
Author(s) -
Block Walter,
Lorch David,
Midkiff Bobby,
Reed Keith
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
economic affairs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.24
H-Index - 18
eISSN - 1468-0270
pISSN - 0265-0665
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0270.00337
Subject(s) - social security , measure (data warehouse) , paternalism , state (computer science) , bond , function (biology) , economics , forcing (mathematics) , law and economics , finance , computer science , mathematics , market economy , mathematical analysis , algorithm , database , evolutionary biology , biology
Social Security is a paternalist measure, supposedly forcing people to save for their old‐age years, based on the assumption that they are not far‐seeing enough to do so on their own behalf. It is only ‘supposed’, since the funds mulcted from each generation go not to finance their own retirements, but those of their predecessors. As in the case of all coercive schemes, this one cannot be shown to improve the lot of anyone (with the exception of those who do the imposing). Specifically, this measure has negative implications for family bonds, as it substitutes the state for a function previously carried out by the extended family.