I’m a bit embarrassed to say that I hadn’t heard of this book before today. But it’s one I’m certainly interested in reading and one I imagine a lot of TPM Readers would be too. Please note, I have not read the book yet. So I can’t say it’s a recommendation per se. But I want to bring it to your attention.
It’s called The Plot Against Social Security : How the Bush Plan Is Endangering Our Financial Future. And it just came out in May.
It’s by Michael Hiltzik, a business columnist for the LA Times.
Here’s part of what Publishers Weekly said about it …
A Pulitzer Prizeâwinning financial journalist for the Los Angeles Times, Hiltzik gathers arguments made by a plethora of economists and skeptics into a comprehensive, biting critique of the privatization agenda and what he calls the “astroturf” alliance of right-wing ideologues, Wall Street opportunists and Republican political operatives that “aims to propagate, and then exploit, public ignorance.” Prophecies of the Social Security trust fund’s bankruptcy, he finds, are based on dubious and politically biased forecasts; more realistic projections have the trust fund growing nicely over the next 75 years. Even if doomsayers’ predictions come true, he notes, the system’s solvency can be safeguarded by straightforward fixes; simply lifting the cap on Social Security taxesâthus taxing high-income workers at the same rate as everyone elseâwould make up Bush’s projected shortfall and then some, he says.
Sounds about right to <$NoAd$> me.
Late Update: TPM Reader DE sent in this note this morning: “I just finished reading The Plot Against Social Security, and it is an excellent book. A good background on the origins of the program, some depth on the phony assumptions that go into the pessimistic forecasts, what’s behind the push for privatization, and some suggestions for truly helping social security. An easy and very educational read.”
Later Update: And now TPM Reader NG chimes in: “Hiltzik’s columns in the LATimes are uniformly excellent–he’s been a must-read for me ever since he covered the supermarket strikes here. He deals with workers with real understanding.”
