ABSTRACT
The case of social security in the United States is a good example of a widely popular programme, even though it is, in fact, a slow-motion pyramid scheme. So long as most recipients ended up getting more out of the system than they put into it, which was the case for a half century or so, social security was largely unopposed. Now that this unsustainable pay-as-you-earn system will have to be modified, opponents multiply, and support for independently funded retirement accounts escalates.
