Fed chairman Alan Greenspan says the government may not be able to make all the Social Security and Medicare payments it has long promised the baby-boomers: “If we have promised more than our economy has the ability to deliver to retirees without unduly diminishing real income gains of workers, as I fear we may have, we must recalibrate our programs.” Recalibrate is a euphemism for breaking promises
Will this be the beginning of mass disillusionment with government? Will Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson cease being highly rated presidents? (After all, they set up these programs without regard for demographic considerations.) Will their birthdays feature mass protests and hangings of effigies? What will it take?
