"What's important is that, unlike Medicare, Social Security costs don't go upward to infinity. They go up through about 2030, as the baby boomers retire, and then level out forever. And the long-term difference between income and outgo is only about 1.5% of GDP. This is why I keep saying that Social Security is a very manageable problem. "
I don't get why it doesn't go down after the baby boomers die out. Anyone know?
Update: Ezra Klein followed up The Social Security shortfall in one graph. "Social Security does not have a curve that needs bending. As Stephen C. Goss, the system's chief actuary, has written, Social Security's problem is that "birth rates dropped from three to two children per woman." That's created an imbalance between the number of people benefiting and the number of people paying in. "Importantly," Goss continues, "this shortfall is basically stable after 2035." So once you've gotten revenues in line with spending, you're done. And to do that, you need to devote around 1 percent of GDP to the cause. That's real money, but it's nothing like what's required by health care."
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