The Folks Who Missed the Bubble Want Your Social Security

Tuesday 16 February 2010

by: Dean Baker, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

If you fail disastrously at most jobs, you get sent packing. But, there are different rules for Washington policy wonks. The same crew who could not see the $8 trillion housing bubble that wrecked the economy are convening in Washington this week to hatch new schemes to take away people's Social Security and Medicare in the name of "fiscal responsibility."

You might think there would be a little bit of humility here. After all, it was the job of these policy wonks to prevent the sort of economic collapse that the country is now experiencing. The basic story really was very simple. Nationwide house prices diverged from a 100-year trend; eventually rising by more than 70 percent above their trend levels.