Social Security Is Not a Ponzi Scheme

September 13, 2011 by Dan Mitchell

I was wrong yesterday when I said Social Security was akin to a Ponzi scheme.

It’s worse, as aptly demonstrated in this cartoon.

And let’s not forget the famous Bernie Madoff cartoon.

(h/t: Steve Horwitz)

Posted in Entitlements, Social Security | Tagged Entitlements, Ponzi Scheme, Social Security | 35 Comments

35 Responses

on April 30, 2023 at 6:24 pm Dan Mitchell: Spending Caps are the Fiscal Gold Standard | The Daily Hatch

[…] about Social Security, click here. There are other Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And a Social Security joke if you appreciate grim […]
on April 2, 2023 at 10:15 pm Dan Mitchell article: Social Security’s $60 Trillion-Plus Problem (plus Milton Friedman – The Social Security Myth) | The Daily Hatch

[…] and cartoons about Social Security, click here. There are other Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And a Social Security joke if you appreciate grim […]
on August 10, 2021 at 6:47 pm Dan Mitchell article Social Security’s Inevitable Decline | The Daily Hatch

[…] and cartoons about Social Security, click here. There are other Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And a Social Security joke if you appreciate grim […]
on August 10, 2021 at 9:00 am Social Security’s Inevitable Decline | International Liberty

[…] and cartoons about Social Security, click here. There are other Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And a Social Security joke if you appreciate grim […]
on February 29, 2020 at 10:50 am Michael Bloomberg and Entitlements: Rational (at Least in the Past), but not Right | International Liberty

[…] Social Security technically isn’t a Ponzi scheme. That’s because people have the freedom to reject a con artist peddling a pyramid scam. With […]
on March 20, 2019 at 10:42 am New Academic Study: Payroll Tax Burdens Stifle Entrepreneurship | International Liberty

[…] You can enjoy some Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And we also have a Social Security joke if you appreciate grim […]
on July 15, 2018 at 10:47 am The Second Social Security Crisis | International Liberty

[…] S. You can enjoy some Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And we also have a Social Security joke if you appreciate grim […]
on August 29, 2017 at 8:31 am Personal Accounts Are the Best Way to Ensure Safe and Secure Retirement Income - Senior Americans Association

[…] You can enjoy some Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And we also have a Social Security joke if you appreciate grim […]
on August 28, 2017 at 10:35 am Personal Accounts Are the Best Way to Ensure Safe and Secure Retirement Income | International Liberty

[…] You can enjoy some Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And we also have a Social Security joke if you appreciate grim […]
on July 17, 2017 at 8:03 am Social Security’s Creeping Fiscal Crisis | International Liberty

[…] You can enjoy some Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And we also have a Social Security joke if you appreciate grim […]
on May 10, 2017 at 11:40 am Making Social Security Worse for Rich People Won’t Change the Fact that the Program Is Bad News for Poor People | International Liberty

[…] You can enjoy some Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And we also have a Social Security joke if you appreciate grim […]
on March 20, 2017 at 2:35 pm IMF Data from Asia: Aging Populations Will Mean More Taxes and Fewer Benefits for Workers Trapped in Government-Run Retirement Programs | International Liberty

[…] for U.S. reform, as captured by cartoons. And you can enjoy other Social Security cartoons here, here, and here, along with a Social Security joke if you appreciate grim […]
on December 22, 2015 at 9:50 am The Personal and National Case for Genuine Social Security Reform | International Liberty

[…] case for reform, as captured by cartoons. And you can enjoy other Social Security cartoons here, here, and here, along with a Social Security joke if you appreciate grim […]
on May 11, 2015 at 10:59 am The Ticking Fiscal Time Bomb of Social Security | Lex Rex for All

[…] You can enjoy some previous Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And we also have a Social Security joke if you appreciate grim […]
on May 11, 2015 at 7:14 am The Ticking Fiscal Time Bomb of Social Security | International Liberty

[…] You can enjoy some previous Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And we also have a Social Security joke if you appreciate grim […]
on April 16, 2015 at 10:08 am Social Security, Vote Buying, and the Road to Greece | International Liberty

[…] You can enjoy some previous Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And we also have a Social Security joke if you appreciate grim […]
on February 10, 2015 at 4:10 pm The Global Private Social Security Revolution | Lex Rex for All

[…] You can enjoy some previous Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And we also have a Social Security joke if you appreciate grim […]
on February 7, 2015 at 10:04 am The Global Private Social Security Revolution | International Liberty

[…] You can enjoy some previous Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And we also have a Social Security joke if you appreciate grim […]
on January 24, 2015 at 2:04 pm The Need for Social Security Reform, as Illustrated by Cartoons | International Liberty | Lex Rex for All

[…] You can enjoy some previous Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And we also have a Social Security joke if you appreciate grim […]
on January 24, 2015 at 12:15 pm The Need for Social Security Reform, as Illustrated by Cartoons | International Liberty

[…] You can enjoy some previous Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And we also have a Social Security joke if you appreciate grim […]
on February 2, 2014 at 3:48 pm MyRAs Are the Wrong Way of Helping Ordinary People Save Money | International Liberty

[…] You can enjoy some Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And we also have a Social Security joke if you appreciate dark […]
on January 4, 2014 at 3:20 pm Government-Run Social Security Is Bad News for Blacks and other Minorities | International Liberty

[…] You can enjoy some Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And we also have a Social Security joke, though it’s not overly funny when you […]
on November 2, 2013 at 11:01 am What America Can Learn from the Faroe Islands about Social Security Reform | International Liberty

[…] In you like gallows humor, you can enjoy some Social Security cartoons here, here, and here. And we also have a Social Security joke, though it’s not overly funny when you […]
on September 2, 2013 at 6:08 am Cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog that demonstrate what Obama is doing to our economy Part 30 (Social Security Ponzi scheme cartoons) | The Daily Hatch

[…] If you need to be cheered up after reading this post, here’s a good cartoon showing the difference between Social Security and a Ponzi scheme, and here’s another cartoon showing what inspired Bernie Madoff to steal so much […]
on February 4, 2013 at 7:45 am Open letter to President Obama (Part 230) « HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth

[…] If you need to be cheered up after reading this post, here’s a good cartoon showing the difference between Social Security and a Ponzi scheme, and here’s another cartoon showing what inspired Bernie Madoff to steal so much […]
on August 14, 2012 at 10:27 pm Social Security time bomb « HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth

[…] If you need to be cheered up after reading this post, here’s a good cartoon showing the difference between Social Security and a Ponzi scheme, and here’s another cartoon showing what inspired Bernie Madoff to steal so much […]
on August 13, 2012 at 1:43 pm Social Security’s $30 Trillion Fiscal Time Bomb « International Liberty

[…] If you need to be cheered up after reading this post, here’s a good cartoon showing the difference between Social Security and a Ponzi scheme, and here’s another cartoon showing what inspired Bernie Madoff to steal so much money. Rate […]
on August 13, 2012 at 6:01 am Boudreaux Makes Two Points Re: Social Security | The Pretense of Knowledge

[…] And I found this old item: Social Security is worse than a Ponzi scheme. In a Ponzi scheme you can at least opt-out. With SS you have a gun to your head. […]
on April 17, 2012 at 1:34 pm Giving Thanks On Tax Day « Yi! News

[…] withhold a large percentage of my income to eventually give me Social Security benefits that I am certain to receive in old age. Or that they keep much of my money to support the thriving public schools. What would I […]
on April 13, 2012 at 4:28 pm Giving Thanks « Brian Ruddock

[…] that they withhold a large percentage of my income to give me Social Security benefits that I am certain to receive in old age. Or that they keep much of my money to support the thriving public schools. What would I […]
on September 18, 2011 at 4:42 pm Doc

SS was never meant to be what it has become – when it was first started the average person died at 62 – now life expectancy is much higher than that. So it will go belly-up, it is just a numbers game. And like a ponsi-scheme when less comes in than goes out – it goes belly up. That is why people compare it to a Ponsi-scheme – but unlike a Ponsi-scheme we cannot opt out of it. The government has a gun to our head on this, and many other issues. I know that right now, I work much less than I could because I see no reason to pay more to the government – why save when they will take it either through inflation, or other tactics? It just isn’t in my best interest to work myself to death for others – so I will contribute less, and the whole thing will collapse faster.

That is the only way to ensure that eventually they will come up with something that works – when the entire system collapses and true capitalism and the prosperity it can bring is embraced. Everyone should work as long as they can – and they should have true nationwide insurance that true competition sets the rates for – rather than having state-by-state deciding who is the winner and who is the loser by who pays them off the most.

Obama listened to only the insurance companies when coming up with Obama-care – wanna know why? They are paying him and all the other politicians off, and you – the tax-payer will be left with nothing in the end other. SS is broke – the government took all of the extra and spent it – if there was a true saving bank, it would last another 30+ years, there isn’t. If they stop paying on SS – they have already defaulted since the replaced the extra money with bonds that are as worthless, as the word of any politician.
on September 14, 2011 at 5:04 pm Clint

SS might work if we treat it like an insurance policy – everyone pays a little, most people get back nothing.
on September 14, 2011 at 3:02 am A Few Random Morning Links … | The Pretense of Knowledge

[…] A Few Random Morning Links … September 14, 2011By adminSocial Security is worse than a Ponzi scheme. In a Ponzi scheme you can at least opt-out. With SS you have a gun to your head. […]
on September 13, 2011 at 3:14 pm ExExZonie

Rebecca if you need help, you’re obviously eligible for state assistance for food, medicine, housing, etc. – that’s what welfare is really for. Besides, in 20 years your kids won’t have any social security to draw on – what about them?

Did you sue the doctor for malpractice? I’d think the settlement would have been huge.

Good luck. I have End Stage Renal Disease and a fatal cancer in remission. Don’t know if I’ll make it another five years – it’s in God’s hands.
on September 13, 2011 at 10:38 am Rebecca Corley Bailey

I think our goverment needs to get a grip on reality! My husband & I rely completely on social security,medicare & medicaid! He was paralyzed,from the chest down in a local hospital, because a surgeon made a “MISTAKE” when trying to repair the staph infection in his back! Because of this I can’t work because I’m his caretaker & must be at home with him. Otherwise he’ll be back in the nursing home & who’s going to pay for this? At over $5,000 a month,wouldn’t be long before we would both be homeless. My health is so worn down I don’t think I could hold down a job if I had to! I’m not eligible for any health ins. & we can’t afford it.

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