PartA2.TheNationalAssociationofSecuritiesDealersisinvestigatingwhethersomebrokerage
housesareinappropriatelypushingindividualstoborrowlargesumsontheirhouses
toinvestinthestockmarket.Canwepersuadetheassociationtoinvestigatewould-beprivatizersofSocialSecurity?ForitisnowapparentthattheBushadministr ation’sprivatizationproposalwillamounttothesamething:borrowtr illions,putthe
moneyinthestockmarketandhope.
Privatizationwouldbeginbydivertingpayrolltaxes,whichpayforcurrentSocial
Securitybenefits,intopersonalinvestmentaccounts.Thegovernmentwould
havetoborrowtomakeuptheshortfall.Thiswouldsharplyincreasethegovernment’sdebt.“Nevermind”,privatizationadvocatessay,“inthelongrun,peoplewould
makesomuchonpersonalaccountsthatthegovernmentcouldsavemoneybycuttingretirees’
benefits.Evenso,ifpersonalinvestmentaccountswereinvestedinTreasurybonds,
thiswholeprocesswouldaccomplishpreciselynothing.Theinterestworkerswouldreceiveon,
theiraccountswouldexactlymatchtheinterestthegovernmentwould
havetopayonitsadditionaldebt.Tocompensatefortheinitialborrowing,
thegovernmentwouldhavetocutfuturebenefitssomuchthatworkerswouldgainnothingatall.
However,privatizersclaimthattheseinvestmentswouldmakealotof
moneyandthat,ineffect,thegovernment,nottheworkers,wouldreapmostofthosegains,
becauseaspersonalaccountsgrew,thegovernmentcouldcutbenefits.
Wecanargueatlengthaboutwhetherthehighstockreturnssuchschemesassumearerealistic
(theyarent),butletscuttothechase:inessence,suchschemes
involvehavingthegovernmentborrowheavilyandputthemoneyinthestockmarket.That’sbecausethegovernmentwould,ineffect,confiscateworkers’gainsintheirpersonalaccountsbycuttingthoseworkers’benefits.
onceyourealizewhatprivatizationreallymeans,itd oesn’tsoundtooresponsible,doesit?Butthedetailsmakeitconsiderablyworse.First,
financialmarketswould,correctly,tr eattherealityofhugedeficitstodayasamuchmore
importantindicatorofthegovernmentsfiscalhealththanthemerepromisethatgovernmentcouldsavemoneyby
cuttingbenefitsinthedistantfuture.Afterall,agovernmentbondisalegallybinding
promisetopay,whileabenefitsformulathatsupposedlycutscosts40yearsfromnowisnothing
morethanasuggestiontofutureCongresses.
Ifaprivatizationplanpassedin2005calledforsteepbenefitcutsin2045,
whataretheoddsthatthosecutswouldreallyhappen?Second,
asystemofpersonalaccountswouldpayhugebrokeragefees.Ofcourse,fromWallStr eet’spointofviewthat’sabenefit,notacost.
第26题：Accordingtotheauthor,“privatizers”arethose_____.
[A]borrowingfrombankstoinvestinthestockmarket[B]whoinvestinTreasurybonds
[C]advocatingthegovernmenttoborrowmoneyfromcitizens[D]whoearnlargesumsofmoneyinpersonal
accounts
正确答案：C
