Defaulting on the Social Security Trust Fund: What It Would Mean, and How It Would Be Done

Publication Date: March 2005

Publisher: Center for Economic and Policy Research

Author(s): Dean Baker

Research Area: Banking and finance

Keywords: Wealth redistribution; Tax revenues; Federal budget

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

Some policymakers have asserted that the Social Security program will begin to face serious problems in 2018. This paper shows that the date would only pose a problem if the U.S. government were to default on the bonds held by the Social Security trust fund.