Do today’s retirees understand that they would have a pension two, three, or more times larger than their Social Security pension if they had been allowed to invest their FICA taxes in stocks? Despite Social Security’s monumental impact on the lives of ordinary Americans, it is probably the most poorly understood government program.

Edgar K. Browning is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Texas A&M University.
Entitlements and WelfareHealth and HealthcareMedicare and MedicaidMedicare, Medicaid, and ObamacareSocial Security
Other Independent Review articles by Edgar K. Browning
Fall 2002 The Transfer Society: Economic Expenditures on Transfer Activity
Summer 1997 The End of Welfare: Fighting Poverty in the Civil Society