>Isn't reserve exhaustion different from "solvent"? Aren't the assets
>of the TF good into infinity (or until capitalism collapses)?
The asseets of the SS reserve are special-issue Treasury bonds, meaning they can't be sold to anyone else. At some point, should the system ever fall into deficit, the Treasury will have to come up with the cash to redeem the bonds. They'll do that with either tax revenue or borrowing. The whole notion of a reserve like this is ludicrous - it's like your left pocket lending money to your right. But in any case, the government can afford this. As the summary of the trustees' report says, "The annual cost of Social Security benefits represents 4.3 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) today and is projected to rise to 6.6 percent of GDP in 2078." If true - and it's based on some very bearish projections of GDP growth - that shift of 2.3% of GDP over the course of 74 years is quite modest. (Bush's military buildup has been about 1.9% of GDP in just four years.) At worst, it's a problem, not a crisis.
Doug