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Solution to US debt crisis is severe austerity triggered by a fiscal calamity

fortune.com

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Re: Solution to US debt crisis is severe austerity triggered by a fiscal calamity

#71

Post by FreakLegion »

Hammershaft wrote: post #62
techgnosis wrote: post #58

The healthcare portions of the debt seem unsolvable but I don't know why we think Social Security is that complicated to fix. 1. Define very clearly what SS is. We need to be clear that it's an agreement between the working class and the retired class that says "if you are too old to work and you can't afford to live, we will take care of you" 2. Get rid of the SS tax cap. You don't pay any SS tax above 180k ish, whi…

That isn't enough to solve the problem. https://www.crfb.org/socialsecurityreformer/

According to the site it is.

Revenues -> Eliminate Tax Max without Benefit Credit (parent's #2) closes the gap by 68%.

Benefit Formula -> Slow Benefit Growth for Top Half of Earners (closest option to parent's #3) closes the gap by 41%.

Together these keep the program solvent indefinitely.

Re: Solution to US debt crisis is severe austerity triggered by a fiscal calamity

#72

Post by whimsicalism »

techgnosis wrote: post #58

The healthcare portions of the debt seem unsolvable but I don't know why we think Social Security is that complicated to fix. 1. Define very clearly what SS is. We need to be clear that it's an agreement between the working class and the retired class that says "if you are too old to work and you can't afford to live, we will take care of you" 2. Get rid of the SS tax cap. You don't pay any SS tax above 180k ish, whi…

healthcare: It might be politically doable if we just keep govt catastrophic care insurance and then give like ~50% of what we were previously spending on medicare/medicaid as a UBI. Would cut spending substantially and make the politics on 'endless healthcare spending without clear benefit' more of an uphill battle.

Re: Solution to US debt crisis is severe austerity triggered by a fiscal calamity

#73

Post by _DeadFred_ »

derelicta wrote: post #9

What the people crave for is MORE austerity. And by austerity, I mean higher taxes on those who work, and lower for those who dont.

More taxes for those whose income is via earned wages, less for those profiting from having excess capital.

Re: Solution to US debt crisis is severe austerity triggered by a fiscal calamity

#74

Post by tzs »

techgnosis wrote: post #58

The healthcare portions of the debt seem unsolvable but I don't know why we think Social Security is that complicated to fix. 1. Define very clearly what SS is. We need to be clear that it's an agreement between the working class and the retired class that says "if you are too old to work and you can't afford to live, we will take care of you" 2. Get rid of the SS tax cap. You don't pay any SS tax above 180k ish, whi…

#2 is popular, according to polling. See [1][2].

[1] https://www.aarp.org/social-security/survey-raising-taxes/

[2] https://www.nasi.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NASI_SocialS...

Re: Solution to US debt crisis is severe austerity triggered by a fiscal calamity

#75

Post by ta9000 »

techgnosis wrote: post #58

The healthcare portions of the debt seem unsolvable but I don't know why we think Social Security is that complicated to fix. 1. Define very clearly what SS is. We need to be clear that it's an agreement between the working class and the retired class that says "if you are too old to work and you can't afford to live, we will take care of you" 2. Get rid of the SS tax cap. You don't pay any SS tax above 180k ish, whi…

> Get rid of the SS tax cap. You don't pay any SS tax above 180k ish, which seems silly. Get rid of the cap and let every earned dollar participate in the program. It doesn't feel like that hard of a sell.

No. Frankly getting a bit of a boost to my income at the end of the year is one of the few things I have left to look forward to. The program at best will pay out $0.75 on the dollar of benefits. How much is enough? Do more with less.

Re: Solution to US debt crisis is severe austerity triggered by a fiscal calamity

#76

Post by ta9000 »

tzs wrote: post #74
techgnosis wrote: post #58

The healthcare portions of the debt seem unsolvable but I don't know why we think Social Security is that complicated to fix. 1. Define very clearly what SS is. We need to be clear that it's an agreement between the working class and the retired class that says "if you are too old to work and you can't afford to live, we will take care of you" 2. Get rid of the SS tax cap. You don't pay any SS tax above 180k ish, whi…

#2 is popular, according to polling. See [1][2]. [1] https://www.aarp.org/social-security/survey-raising-taxes/ [2] https://www.nasi.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NASI_SocialS...

Of course it is, most people like to tax others to pay for their own benefits. Almost no one in the US maxes out the cap, so for them it would make no difference.

Re: Solution to US debt crisis is severe austerity triggered by a fiscal calamity

#77

Post by creer »

Taikonerd wrote: post #22
akamaka wrote: post #11

Rather than reading this opinion piece, you can learn more about the “debt crisis” by just studying this chart which shows what percentage of the federal budget goes toward paying off the debt: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FYOIGDA188S The situation is similar to what it was in the late 1980s, and it can mostly likely be managed with the same level of spending restraints we saw in response to that.

IANA economist, but if there were a debt crisis, it would ultimately be about the psychology of the investors who would buy government debt. They want to be very, very confident that they will be paid back (which is why they're willing to accept a low interest rate). If those investors are satisfied with a return to a late-80s fiscal posture, then great. But if they're worried that spending would just creep up again…

In particular, investors often like to see the contrast of infrastructure development (investing in future GDP), as opposed to paying day to day operating costs, retirements, interest on debt (never mind larger debt as far as the eye can see), and other creative ways to prevent future GDP. And there is very, very little infrastructure development in US budgets.

Re: Solution to US debt crisis is severe austerity triggered by a fiscal calamity

#78

Post by creer »

Hammershaft wrote: post #65
ratelimitsteve wrote: post #32

lets do austerity for the wealthy first. we give them money hand over fist, in fact we've never met a problem we didn't try to solve by giving the rich more money. we currently fund R&D for three private space programs, from which we buy the technologies we paid the development costs for. Lets get down to 0 publicly-funded privately-owned space programs before we start picking which grandmothers we need to starve out

That R&D money to private space companies has lead to the biggest advances in space technology in our lifetimes.

And for very small amounts too (compared to the whole mess). Fantastic return (on that little bit, out of the whole mess). Same for medical research.

Re: Solution to US debt crisis is severe austerity triggered by a fiscal calamity

#79

Post by bdangubic »

tzs wrote: post #74
techgnosis wrote: post #58

The healthcare portions of the debt seem unsolvable but I don't know why we think Social Security is that complicated to fix. 1. Define very clearly what SS is. We need to be clear that it's an agreement between the working class and the retired class that says "if you are too old to work and you can't afford to live, we will take care of you" 2. Get rid of the SS tax cap. You don't pay any SS tax above 180k ish, whi…

#2 is popular, according to polling. See [1][2]. [1] https://www.aarp.org/social-security/survey-raising-taxes/ [2] https://www.nasi.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NASI_SocialS...

do that poll in fairfax or loudoun county in northern va or san jose or san francisco and and watch those numbers change… every is up for more taxes as long as someone else pays them

Re: Solution to US debt crisis is severe austerity triggered by a fiscal calamity

#80

Post by bdangubic »

whimsicalism wrote: post #70
Hammershaft wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That isn't enough to solve the problem. https://www.crfb.org/socialsecurityreformer/

? the OP proposed raising the contribution limit & also hinted at some means testing "and you can't afford to live" -- which combined would absolutely be enough to close the gap depending on how aggressive you are with these changes.

I would let government decide “you cant afford to live” as much as I would let OJ Simpson date my daughter. but that would be a hoot as two parties controlling the government change. while one is in power, 99.99% of retirees would qualify, the other - 0.000065% :)
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