The Everyday Economist

Mankiw writes in the New York Times:

My birthday wish is for all of us to stop asking what the government can do for us today. Instead, we should focus on what we can do together to prepare the economy for our children and grandchildren. That means getting ready to care more for ourselves in old age, perhaps by retiring later, perhaps by saving more. I hope that when I celebrate my 100th birthday in 2058, my descendants won’t look upon Grandpa and his generation as the biggest economic problem of their time.

Indeed.

Paul Krugman is upset with Barrack Obama for caring about the solvency of Social Security. Of course Krugman is not hoping for insolvency, he simply thinks that the solvency of one program is only important in comparison to other programs. This has caused our friend Don Boudreaux over at Café Hayek to ponder:

The only evidence that Krugman presents to support his case against the proposition that Social Security is headed for insolvency (unless it undergoes big changes) is simply that Medicare and Medicaid are headed for insolvency that’s even worse.

So Krugman’s case that Social Security presents no real problems to worry about is like, say, a lawyer advising client Jones that the grand-larceny charges against Jones are really nothing to worry about because client Smith is facing the more serious charge of murder.

This is why I have grown to be somewhat politically agnostic. Policy is rarely debated on the basis of its merits. The Social Security debate is a prime example.