I.O.U.S.A.

I recently watched a video about the financial future of the Federal Government. It is called I.O.U.S.A. and is well worth the 30 minutes it takes to watch it. I like it because it is non-partisan, talks to intelligent people, puts things in historical perspective, and encourages a plan of action at the end. In short, it has it all.
The film focuses on four topics-

1)how the federal government needs to reign in entitlement spending,

2) we need to become a saver nation again,

3)the trade deficit matters, and

4)we need leadership.

I would highly recommend it to everyone. It takes complex ideas and presents them in an easy-to-understand format. At the end of watching it, I felt smarter. And I also felt vindicated by the video because I have been an advocate of social security reform for a while. This is what I said in March of 2005 on my previous blog- antityranny.blogspot

The attitude of the younger generation provides an opportunity to phase out social security. This will free up money and shift responsibility for retirement from the government to individuals and families. The 6% that workers now contribute will create a giant pool of money. That money could go to a variety of purposes. Maybe that money will become a new source of investment capital. Maybe people will go out and spend it on worthless consumer electronics. Maybe people will store it under the couch. I don't know. But I do know that right now I don't believe that social security will be around for me and if I can get that 6% of my paycheck right now, I am more than happy to take care of my own retirement, thank you.