A social security wager

Cato is an endless supply of free market arguments, and of course, social security is often discussed. Anyone willing to think a few seconds about social security will realize how ridiculous the program is. Who in their right mind would choose to invest in an organization 7 trillion dollars in debt as opposed to organizations that actually make money? So a Cato scholar gives some advice to Bush to make a wager to Kerry on privatizing social security.

For instance, President Bush could make the following proposal to Sen. Kerry:

"Take two workers, each earning an identical income. One will be allowed to invest 2 percent of his income in a private Social Security account. The other will have to place the same amount of money into the current government-run system. After a specified amount of time, analysts will calculate the amount of return each worker would have received on his investment. If the worker who kept his money in the traditional Social Security program would come out ahead, Bush will pay Kerry the difference. Likewise, if the reverse happens, Kerry would pay Bush the difference.

Then, after Bush wins the wager, he could simply tell all social security privatization opponents to shut the fuck up.