"The Case for Killing Granny"
by Bill Bonner
‘We’ve got a duty to die and get out of the way with all of
our machines and artificial hearts and everything else
like that and let the other society, our kids, build a reasonable life.’
- Dick Lamm (former Governor of Colorado)
Youghal, Ireland - What should old people do? How should they live? When should they get out of the way? When should they die? We ask these questions because, well…first, because we are getting old...and second, we ask with an altruistic purpose. We wonder what the old should do to help head off America’s rendezvous with catastrophe.
It is not really a ‘Golden Age’ in America. But there are plenty of ‘Golden Girls’ and ‘Golden Guys’ living longer. The codgers hang onto their teeth much longer than previous generations, but are otherwise no jollier or more content.
We don’t mind old people. But as we linger longer, it takes more trips to the repair shop to keep the engine turning over. Especially when we approach the end of the road. And there is something not only a little sad, but also a little unhealthy, about the whole spectacle. America’s older people have more wealth than ever...and more political power. And they use the political power to tilt the whole economy in their direction, so that a larger portion of GDP rolls down to meet them.
The Financial Times: "In the two decades straddling 2000, households headed by adults older than 65 improved their median net worth by 42% while the wealth of families of adults 18 to 34 fell by 68%."
Meanwhile, Social Security and Medicare are going broke. LegalClarity.org: "Social Security operates through two legally separate funds: the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) fund, which pays retirement and survivor benefits, and the Disability Insurance (DI) fund. The 2025 Trustees Report projects that the OASI fund will exhaust its reserves by 2033, at which point continuing tax revenue would cover only 77 percent of scheduled retirement benefits. The DI fund, by contrast, is in far better shape and is not projected to run out during the entire 75-year projection window."
When analysts combine the two funds for a big-picture view, the exhaustion date lands in 2034, with 81 percent of total scheduled benefits payable from that point forward. But the geezers don’t want to hear about it. They want to keep the checks coming their way...let the next generation worry about the math.
This ‘get it while you can’ attitude is undignified, to be sure. But it is a natural reaction of homo economicus under the unrelenting spell of the Cantillon Effect, whereby the first people into a bubble, a ponzi, or inflation get a much better deal than later arrivals. And it infects the whole society. Get it - by hook, by crook or by Congress - and spend it before the well goes dry.
In this respect, it is a good idea to remain humble...and keep things plain. Trying to prevent a debt crisis by borrowing yet more and more money is a little like trying to prevent a war by bombing your neighbors. Rarely does it work out as advertised. And while we, and the whole choir of Doom, assume that the crisis will be met with a staggering increase in money printing...and much higher rates of inflation...we stand as a poor pilgrim in awe of the Great Mr. Market. He can do what he wants...no need to consult with us.
And remember, the initial effect of a crash is deflation, not inflation. That’s what happened in Japan. Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall in 1990. And then all the pumping, priming, and printing by the Bank of Japan couldn’t put Humpty back together again. It took 35 years just for stocks to recover their nominal, 1990 values.
And remember, too, the feds can’t ‘just print’ money. Money enters the economy by borrowing and spending - notably by the feds. Japan spent hundreds of billions - mostly on infrastructure - but it couldn’t make ordinary people want to borrow. Even NIRP (negative interest rate policy) didn’t coax the old animal spirits from their burrows. Old people controlled the Japanese government and the wealth of the nation. And old people, being antique and precious, weren’t taking any chances.
The Eskimos famously dealt with the old people problem by putting their elders out on the ice. it relieved the community of the burden of caring for them. More than that it definitively transferred all property and decision-making - no need for probate! - to the living.
In America, today, old people not only live longer...they work longer. Which means, their fat derrieres are occupying seats that might otherwise have held the firmer cheeks of a more robust, younger person. And thanks to ‘seniority,’ the cost of employing the old duffer is usually higher.
The real fault line in America is not between the aforementioned political parties. They are nothing but the two flapping wings of the same buzzard. The real contest is between those who benefit from current policies...and those who pay for them. Increasingly, that divide is a matter of age."
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Research Note, by Dan Denning: "As of the end of 2025, there was about $2.7 trillion in the two ‘trust funds’ that make up Social Security. First is the Old Age and Survivor’s Insurance Trust Fund (OASI). Next is the Disability Insurance Trust Fund (DI). For analytical purposes, we’re going to treat them as one fund today.
On an annual cash flow basis, the fund began running deficits in 2010. This was a combination of two factors. First, the first Baby Boomers eligible for Social Security at age 62 (born in 1946) began claiming benefits in 2008. Then, the stock market crashed and the economy plunged into recession. This gutted the payroll tax receipts that fund Social Security and accelerated the draw-down on accumulated reserves.
In 2021 things got worse. That’s when the fund’s total income - tax receipts plus the interest earned on bonds held by the fund - were no longer enough to cover costs. When that happened, the fund is/was forced to sell bonds to cover the gap and pay benefits.
The chart above from last year’s annual report on Social Security shows that at the current rate, the fund’s $2.7 trillion in reserves will be exhausted by 2034. At that point, tax receipts will be enough to cover only 80% of expected payouts. There will be a $448 billion annual gap between income and costs. And the trust fund will be empty."
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