Cracking Open The Lock Box

Social Security. That's where the money is. If you can find a way to get .01 or .1 or 1 or 10% of it siphoned out into your pockets, or the pockets of your rich pals generally, it's a victory.

We start with.

As I wrote last week, the Biden campaign has been doing its best to conceal Larry Summers’s involvement in the campaign. But now Bloomberg News has outed him.

My own reporting indicates that Summers not only plays a direct role, but has managed to insert close allies and protégés to argue against progressive policies, including his former student and frequent co-author Natasha Sarin (they wrote an op-ed trashing Warren’s proposed wealth tax), as well as Adam Looney, who served with Summers at the Obama White House and then was policy director of the Robert Rubin–sponsored Hamilton Project.

Which is followed with:

🚨 COVID paper alert 🚨

Excited to share a new paper with @sc_cath and @mjmill611

We show that allowing workers to access a tiny % of their future Social Security benefits today can provide the liquidity they need to weather this storm.

Thread: pic.twitter.com/Jmu7VeH0FH

— Natasha Sarin (@NatashaRSarin) May 5, 2020

Which is followed by some pushback by dumb assholes on the internet without elite pedigrees.

Which is followed by ass covering.

Trump’s “Eagle Plan” to use Social Security as an alternative to much-needed fiscal stimulus is a mistake.

I outline why in @bopinion today. https://t.co/KlH0BnyJ4k

Thread:

— Natasha Sarin (@NatashaRSarin) May 12, 2020

That's not what I meant! That's not what I meant! I didn't mean that people should be able to raid their Social Security accounts after paying some fees to some middle men! I just meant it would be great if they could have zero interest loans and used Social Security as the most ridiculous way to make this point!

For context: I co-authored an academic paper w/ @sc_cath and @mjmill611 quantifying the increase in liquidity from providing households 1% of future SS benefits today.

Our point was: if ppl do borrow, they should be able to do so a 0% interest, w/o enriching banks.

— Natasha Sarin (@NatashaRSarin) May 12, 2020

I am a very smart academic! It took a million years of school for me to come up with the idea that "if people need to borrow, borrowing at low interest rates makes them better off!" I am the first person to have thought of this idea!!

I can’t put my finger on why, but I think she might be lying. pic.twitter.com/NVVdBQbsyM

— Ironize Codeine (@mphilphillips) May 12, 2020