Richard C. Leone

Although privatization zealots backed by Wall Street have called for replacing Social Security with mandatory investment in stocks and bonds, their promised high rates of return do not accord with experience. Any form of private investment is much riskier than a government program, and in the end can be more expensive if the government must bail it out. For at least a generation, retirement taxes would rise, funneling money to private investors. With small adjustments, the current pay-as-you-go system can continue its historic success.