Is Social Security A Ponzi Scheme?

Texas Governor Rick Perry made headlines last week at the Republican presidential candidates' debate when he asserted with an imperious tone that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. It's a tempting analogy because most of the payments to retirees are financed out of receipts from payroll taxes imposed on current workers and employers, not out of principal and earnings on funds contributed by those retirees during their working careers. So why is Perry wrong? Ponzi schemes are named after Charles …read more