Social Security (United States)

Social Security in the United States is a social insurance program funded through a dedicated payroll tax. It is also known as the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance program (OASDI), in reference to its three components. In the calendar year 2004, it paid out almost $500 billion in benefits. http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/STATS/t4a3Outgo.html

See also

• 401k
• Government operations
• Health savings account
• Individual retirement account
• Ownership society

Articles

• CommUnity of Minds : Working Together - The $44 Trillion Abyss - 2003 Fortune Magazine
• Social Security Suicide - AlterNet
• "The Fake Crisis" - Rolling Stone
• "What Does Price Indexing Mean for Social Security Benefits?" - from Center for Retirement Research, January, 2005 (explanation of wage indexing versus price indexing)
• Getting a grip on Social Security: The flaw in the system
• Center for American Progress: Social Security by the Numbers (reference guide with stats)
• "An ownership society evolves: who says individualized accounts are a better way to solve social problems? The laws of nature" by William Tucker (relates self-organization theory to Social Security)

Speeches

• President George W. Bush - State of the Union Address - February 2, 2005
• "Bush's State of the Union: Social Security 'Bankruptcy?'" - FactCheck.org commentary on the speech
• FRB:Testimony, Greenspan--Economic outlook and current fiscal issues--February 25, 2004