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Canadian Pension Plan is
a Ponzi Scheme
by Glenn Woiceshyn
Published in the Globe and Mail (pg. B2) on Feb/06/1996.
Dear Editor,
Re: "Pensions Not A Ponzi Scheme"--by Martin Taylor--Feb/02/96--The Globe
and Mail
In his attempt to assure us that government-enforced pension plans are not Ponzi
schemes, Martin Taylor dribbles with non-essentials and dubious ethical arguments.
The essence of a Ponzi scheme is the irrational idea that one can spend borrowed
money today and pay it back in the future by borrowing more money, ad infinitum,
without worrying about having to earn any money by productive effort. It's the policy
of spending other people's savings now, and hoping somehow that the future will guarantee
more suckers. In this sense, the whole welfare state is a gigantic Ponzi scheme,
except that Ponzi, at least, got his money voluntarily rather than by coercion.
Mr. Martin argues, in essence, that a government-enforced pension plan is moral because
it is based on the idea that we all are morally obligated to help each other. We
certainly are not. And besides, moral action implies voluntary choice, not coercion.
Sincerely,
Glenn Woiceshyn
© 1997 Glenn Woiceshyn. All rights reserved.
This article can be found on-line at at http://www.capitalism.org/glennw. |
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