Yet again the Post reports on the threat posed by �entitlement� spending, referring to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. To quickly repeat myself, this is dishonest. There are modest and manageable increases in projected Social Security spending due to the aging of the population. There are unmanageable projected increases in Medicare and Medicaid expenditures due to a projected explosion in health care costs. If the projected explosion in health care costs proves accurate, then it will devastate the economy, and cause serious budget problems. Honest people respond to these projections by examining ways to prevent the explosion in health care costs. Less honest people talk about the need to cut entitlement spending, including Social Security. Next month we start a new fundraising vehicle for CEPR. We want people to pledge a certain amount (e.g. 5 cents, 50 cents, etc.) for every time the Post runs an article/column warning about entitlement spending (:
-- Dean Baker
