Mark Thoma: Barking Up the Wrong Tree: Social Security is *Not* the Problem

MT:

Economist's View: Barking Up the Wrong Tree: Social Security is Not the Problem: Though there seems to be a concerted effort to get people to believe otherwise, Social Security has very little to do with our long-run budget problem.

Let me add: the worries about the long-term deficit--the worries about the unsustainability of our current fiscal plans--are all worries that congress will not stick to PAYGO when it changes current law. If it sticks to current law, then we have a we-are-not-getting-fair-value-for-our-health-spending problem but not a government solvency problem. If tax cuts relative to current law are financed by spending cuts, then we simply do not have a government solvency problem.