Worker-to-retiree ratio is meaningless for Social Security

For some reason, Social Security seems to get more spurious claims targeted at it than almost any other government program. Commentators mislead the public by calling it a Ponzi scheme, claiming it is insolvent, and strangely calling its treasury bond holdings worthless IOUs. These claims and many others made by the Social Security naysayers are… Continue reading Worker-to-retiree ratio is meaningless for Social Security

What the hell is a job creator?

The right-wing rhetorical machine has been spinning out the word “job creator” for some time now. Recently, that rhetoric has been ratcheted up as Occupy Wall Street managed to break through and bring attention to the massive economic inequality in the country. It is obvious that the title is just used to replace more descriptive… Continue reading What the hell is a job creator?

America still winning inequality competition

The OECD put out this chart recently. If there was a sporting contest to see which country could enrich the 1% the most, the US would be a dynasty franchise.

The copyright system is broken

The debates surrounding copyright and piracy generally bore me. Those engaged in the debates invariably analogize piracy and copyright infringement to either stealing or sharing, and then the debate goes nowhere from there. That vacuousness aside, the copyright system does seem out of touch with the modern world, and it is hard to see how… Continue reading The copyright system is broken