Phat writes:
That is too early according to most analysts. They peg 2003--the year the gulf war started---as the final nail in the coffin. We wiped out trillions of dollars and continue to do so.
WW II cost 4 trillion in current dollars and what followed was a very prosperous era. The current conflicts are totaling about 1 trillion, so WW II cost 4 times as much and we prospered.
This is, to me, what the Fall really means. No secure retirement. No social programs for an aging population who no longer contributes to the tax base. A growing population getting older, mind you.
Due in part to immigration, the US is going to feel much less pain when the baby boomers hit retirement age compared to other countries. If memory serves, Japan has population demographics that are really upside down.
From what I have seen, Social Security will continue to be solvent in the future since no politician will allow it to go away.
The main issue, as I have tried to explain before, is that once the US Dollar is no longer the global reserve currency, we can no longer print money to pay our debts and prices on oil imports will rise exponentially.
Every other country in the world seems to be doing just fine.