He goes way to far, but he is trying to make a point.

Jim Cramer Blows a Head Gasket 8/3/07

] The proposal to change the benefits calculation --
] adjusting only for inflation, not productivity growth --
] will dramatically cut the income-replacement rate for
] future retirees. The size of the cut will depend on when
] workers retire. The heaviest cuts would fall on the
] youngest workers. Those already retired or near
] retirement would be protected.
]
] Let's call it what it is: a tax hike
] The administration has not called this a tax increase,
] but that is exactly what it is: a massive tax hike
] reserved for the young and the young only. It is a tax
] increase because they will pay the same payroll tax but
] will receive less in benefits.
]
] The difference is who gets the money and benefits now. Older
] voters get the money, benefits and reassurances now. Our
] children and grandchildren get the shaft.
]
] Tell me, Mr. President, what's moral and good about that?

MSN Money - Social Security cuts: a tax hike for the young

] Others agreed, but note that Bush and U.S. taxpayers may
] have a few years' breathing room. "Right now, we're
] floating along because the Japanese and Chinese are
] financing our debt by buying government bonds," said Mark
] Votruba, assistant professor of economics at Case Western
] Reserve University.
]
]
] "There's going to come a day when they're not going to do
] that. Then the only way to sell our debt will be to
] increase the interest that we pay on bonds, and that
] means all interest rates are going to go up," he said.
]
]
] But that might not happen for a few years, Votruba said.
] "If the dollar starts falling in value and we see any
] sort of change with the Chinese and Japanese not buying
] our bonds so we have trouble selling Treasury bonds, then
] there will have to be some kind of response. If it
] doesn't happen in the next four years, it'll happen soon
] after that. That's my prediction," he said.

Who finances America?

] Economists have long been interested in why some
] countries are rich and why some countries are poor.
] Differences in labor productivity, inflation, and saving
] and investment rates are traditional economic
] explanations for variations in wealth across countries.
] But when these explanations fall short, researchers
] sometimes turn to noneconomic factors. Two such factors
] are a country’s legal and social institutions.
] Religious factors can also help explain variations in
] economic growth, many economists are increasingly
] finding. In particular, in countries where large
] percentages of the population believe in hell, there
] seem to be less corruption and a higher standard of
] living.

Interesting read...

Fear of Hell Might Fire Up the Economy - Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

] That what T. Boone Pickens thinks. Pickens, whose
] fight for Gulf Oil in the 1980s made Gulf part of
] what today ChevronTexaco (CVX, news, msgs), said the
] problem isnt the price of crude oil. Its that no
] new oil refineries have been built in the United States
] since 1976.
]
] And unless oil companies can be assured they get all the
] environmental permits, you wont see a new refinery, he
] said on CNCs Closing Bell.? And you wont see
] lower gasoline prices.
]
] $3 a gallon gasoline isnt a sure bet, however, Pickens
] said. That depends on whether $2 a gallon gasoline today
] will depress demand. If demand doesnt fall back, $3 is
] quite possible.

How high will gasoline prices go? Maybe $3 How high will gasoline prices go? Maybe $3

] Based on this week's clubbing of the fixed-income market,
] it appears to me that the Fed has lost the confidence of
] the fixed-income market. Going forward, if this market
] begins to act like a vigilante instead of a liquidity hog
] and the dollar continues to go south while precious
] metals firm, it would be the clearest statement that the
] markets have at last concluded the Fed has blown it.
]
]
] Of course, the Fed blew it a long time ago. The only
] question has been when the masses would come to that
] conclusion

The Fed has lost the bond market’s confidence

] In terms of the former, two important developments have
] recently emerged. Last Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of India
] stated that it was "exploring the option of replacing a
] part of the central bank's investment in short-term U.S.
] securities with European gilts." For those who don't
] know, the Reserve Bank of India has a growing cash hoard
] of around $107 billion these days, making it roughly the
] sixth-largest holder of foreign currency reserves.

The sliding dollar is already costing you

] As on Wednesday, the Fed chief faced a number of
] questions from lawmakers concerned about U.S. firms
] "outsourcing" jobs to foreign countries. He strongly
] urged lawmakers not to turn their backs on open trade.

Interesting. I will have to read his speech and see why
he is pro "outsourcing".

MSNBC - Greenspan backs Bush tax cuts extension

] Claire Buchan, a White House spokeswoman, said the
] administration has already looked into ways to compensate
] for future crunches on resources, pointing to a 2002
] White House appointed commission that advocated phasing
] out Social Security options for younger workers while
] allowing retired and near-retired persons to keep their
] benefits.

Good news -- and bad -- for baby boomers, says AARP

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Wednesday the Iraq war's full impact on the U.S. economy would not become clear until the conflict is over.

"We will not know what the full impact of this war will be until it's over," Greenspan said in answer to audience questions after a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, adding that the U.S. economy is "more prone to economic growth than stagnation."

----

Now you think they would have modeled what would happen to US economy and world economy.

Greenspan: War's Economic Impact Not Clear