Oh Boy, We Ain't a Gonna Retire Anytime Soon, Folks!

The Washington Monthly has an interesting article on how well privatizing social security has worked in other countries. (Hint: It hasn't).

In Chile, pension accounts have turned out to be worth less than predicted. Which is what I have predicted for the same in the US. Also, in both Sweden and Chile, management costs have eaten up much of the earnings from the pensioners' accounts. In Chile, retirees would have been better off putting their money in a passbook savings account than in the retirement system.

A less than 3% rate of return per annum isn't going to cut it, folks. This hasn't worked elsewhere, and it's a terrible idea here for anyone who is actually doing to need social security someday (ie, people other than Bush, Cheney, and the rest of the regime who cooked up this stupid scheme).