In this prior post, I alluded to how a coming landslide of broken promises to U.S. citizens might make it so that the U.S. government no longer has enough pressure or incentive to keep U.S. citizens alive, because more citizens = more broken promises. Here are the annual additions to the rolls of those receiving some Social Security:
On thing that stands out is that, when Democrats get elected — i.e., 1992, 2008, 2020 — less people are added to Social Security, either as Old-Age & Survivor or Disability. The extent of the coming crisis is related to a ratio involving the number of full-time equivalent workers in the private sector, the sector where wealth gets created:
There were less than 2 workers in the private sector per Social Security recipient in 2009. In 2020, there were less than 1.8 workers in the private sector per Social Security recipient. In 2022, it was still the case that there were less than 1.9 workers in the private sector per Social Security recipient.
That is not sustainable, indicating that we need less of a welfare state and more economic freedom. The can has now been kicked to the end of the road.
Old Age and Survivors only
Disability only
Reference
[total number of those receiving Social Security] — Social Security Administration. https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/OASDIbenies.html
[full-time equivalent workers in the private sector] — U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Full-time equivalent employees: Domestic private industries [A4303C0A173NBEA], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A4303C0A173NBEA