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A Firing Line Debate: Resolved: That Social Security Should Be Privatized
Collection StructureFiring Line broadcast records > Episode guide > A Firing Line Debate: Resolved: That Social Security Should Be Privatized
Item Title A Firing Line Debate: Resolved: That Social Security Should Be Privatized
Guest Buckley, William F., Jr. (1925-2008)
Guest Goodman, John C.
Guest Kuttner, Robert
Guest Eisner, Robert
Guest Aaron, Henry J.
Guest Marmor, Theodore R.
Guest Du Pont, Pierre S.
Guest Peterson, Peter G.
Host Buckley, William F., Jr. (1925-2008)
Moderator Kinsley, Michael E.
Date CreatedDecember 04, 1996
Description

Is the Social Security system a Ponzi scheme that can't long survive the retirement of the last baby-boomers, as Messrs. Buckley and Goodman suggest? Or is it, as Mr. Eisner puts it, the "system which has lifted the elderly out of poverty to at least the same extent as people of working age"? If we agree (which even the most optimistic of the participants do) that something will have to be done by about 2029, what should that "something" be? Waiting for the crisis to hit and raising taxes on that generation of workers? Or changing gears right now and following the Chilean example of privatization? Today's debaters sometimes talk past each other-e.g., to Mr. Goodman's complaint that encouraging a larger population, via higher birth rate or more immigration, doesn't solve the problem, Mr. Eisner answers: "The key to the best treatment of the elderly is to have the most prosperous economy." But they also came prepared with facts and figures, which they often impart in an arresting way. Mr. du Pont: "I do know that ... [for] any ten-year period in the history of the United States for the last 120 years, if you had invested your money on the first day of that ten years in the stock market, you would be better off on the last day than you would be under Social Security, and that is true even if you invested your money on the day before the crash of '29."

Language(s)
Country of Origin
Place RecordedDallas, Texas, United States
DimensionsDuration: 2 hrs.
FormatMoving Image
Medium television programs
Aspect Ratio
4:3
Color
color
Soundtrack
sound
Hoover IDProgram FLS130
Record Number80040.1383
NotesVideo available through special order.
RightsCopyright held by Stanford University. This copy is provided for educational and research purposes only. No publication, further reproduction, or reuse of copies, beyond fair use, may be made without the express written permission of the Hoover Institution Library & Archives on behalf of Stanford University.

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