NU Online News Service, Feb. 25, 2004, 7:25 p.m. EST – Alan Greenspan says Congress should start cutting Social Security benefits for future retirees.[@@]
Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve System and one of the leaders of the successful U.S. war against inflation, emphasized today in testimony before the U.S. House Budget Committee that he spoke for himself, not the Federal Reserve System.
But Greenspan warned that the federal government's return to deficit spending and the effects that the aging of the baby boomers will have on Social Security funding levels require that the government take action as soon as possible.
Otherwise, he says, ever-growing interest payments could lead to even bigger deficits.
"The resulting rise in the federal debt could drain funds away from private capital formation and thus, over time, slow the growth in living standards," Greenspan said.