August 25, 2010
The NYT has apparently decided to give up on the old-fashioned distinction between news and opinion. They recently ran a piece by Matt Bai insisting that there is no alternative to cutting Social Security to deal with the federal debt. The piece includes the bizarre assertion that Treasury bonds are “often referred to as i.o.u.’s.”
This is, of course, absurd. The business pages of major newspapers are full of references to Treasury bonds all the time. The bonds are never referred to as “i.o.u.’s.” The article then includes the bizarre assertion about government bonds that the only way for the government to make good on the bonds it has outstanding: “is to issue mountains of new debt or to take the money from elsewhere in the federal budget, or perhaps impose significant tax increases — none of which seem like especially practical options for the long term.”
Bai’s opinion is radically at odds with perceptions in financial markets. These markets view it as almost inconceivable that the government will not honor its bonds, which is why the interest rate on long-term bonds is near its lowest level in the last 60 years.
While presenting what is supposed to be a non-partisan view of Social Security, remarkably, Bai never once examines the program’s finances nor the financial situation of the people who would experience the cuts that are being considered.
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