Around noon in the flowers I witness the first bumble bee and butterfly this season and ask Lola if I can call the pairing a bumblefly. She agrees that bumblefly sounds less threatening than butterbee, but cautions that words have commonly understood meanings which should be respected. Still, I fail to see the harm in making up words for amusement and suspect any real danger exists only when people play with the meaning of real words.
For example, when investors discuss securities it is accepted that the word means a record of ownership of stocks or bonds and when the Federal Government says that the Social Security Trust fund is composed of special securities it is uncritically accepted that there are real records of real debt obligations. The Social Security Administration comes right out and states the fact.
For example, when investors discuss securities it is accepted that the word means a record of ownership of stocks or bonds and when the Federal Government says that the Social Security Trust fund is composed of special securities it is uncritically accepted that there are real records of real debt obligations. The Social Security Administration comes right out and states the fact.
“By law, all income to the trust funds that is not immediately needed to pay expenses is invested, on a daily basis, in securities guaranteed as to both principal and interest by the Federal government. All securities held by the trust funds are "special issues." Such securities are available only to the trust funds."The great virtue of trust between people is that eliminates the need to spend time and resources establishing what is true or false in each others words and actions. Donald Luskin, however, looks at the above statement with a critical eye and makes an interesting argument that our Federal Government is distorting the meaning of the term securities when talking about the Social Security Trust Fund.
In the past, the Trust Funds have held "public issues" (marketable securities available to the general public). Unlike marketable securities, special issues can be redeemed at any time at face value. Marketable securities are subject to the forces of the open market and may suffer a loss or enjoy a gain if sold before maturity. Investment in special issues gives the trust funds the same flexibility as holding cash.”
Social Security plays an important role in the stability and fairness of our society, but it is not without problems and probably not the solution to poverty in the elderly and disabled that our computerized society would develop from scratch in this 21st century economy. Reform can take place in incremental steps and it may be politically achievable to create a legitimate trust fund composed of State and Municipal Bonds, but only if legitimate change is demanded by an informed public.“There's one very important thing, though, that makes the Trust Fund's Treasury bonds different from yours. You aren't an agency of the U.S. government, but the Trust Fund is. That means when you invest in Treasury bonds, they represent a debt owed by one party to another — in this case, the government to you. But when the government itself invests in Treasury bonds, those bonds represent a debt owed by one party to itself.
You can't owe money to yourself. What would it even mean to borrow 20 bucks from yourself today and promise to pay it back to yourself on Tuesday?”
