The public is anxious because it has often been told that Social Security will “run out of money around 2042", that it “won’t be there for our young people,” that it will “go bankrupt.” In truth, our Social Security system will never “go bankrupt.” Businesses or individuals can go...

The idea that economists will come closer to the reality of business operations by sitting in their academic offices and making up stories than they might get by observing or talking to managers is bizarre.

Barbara Bergmann of the University of Maryland and American University provides a political economy hypothesis to explain Brad Delong's mystery: The pain has a purpose, namely, higher profits.