Dude, Where’s My New Honda Accord?

It’s hard to wrap your mind around $1,800,000,000,000, which is the total additional payroll taxes workers have paid into the Social Security Trust Fund since 1983. There were about 110 million people in the labor force in 1983. This following is just a ballpark, since I’m not compounding the trust fund payments, nor am I factoring in labor market entry and exit. Dividing $1,800,000,000,000 by 110,000,000 gives $16,363.64, which is enough to buy an entry level Honda Accord.

Or with that additional $1,800,000,000,000 in SSI receipts we could instead write every man, woman, and child alive in America today a check for $6,300. Or we could did blow it all on tax cuts heavily skewed in favor of the rich.

AB