The Norwegian Way

Porkopolis Economics: Episode 150

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Porkopolis Economics covers macroeconomics, money, and sports from the creator of the Crypto Voices podcast, Matthew Mezinskis.

This episode was recorded on September 26th, 2024.

In this episode, Matthew discusses the Social Security. Administration's (SSA) financial and contrasts it with Norway's sovereign wealth fund.

Key points:
- The SSA has a $2.8 trillion trust fund, but this represents cumulative interest earned on prior surpluses, not actual cash savings
- The SSA has been running deficits since 2009, with a projected $150 billion deficit for fiscal year 2023.
- The trust fund is essentially an IOU from the government, as prior surpluses were used by other government branches.
- The current Social Security system is unsustainable, with younger generations unable to afford benefits for older retirees.
- Norway's sovereign wealth fund, built from oil wealth, has invested in real companies and generated a 6.3% return, outperforming the 5.4% return of the US. Social Security trust fund.
- The Norwegian fund represents real shareholder wealth and value, while the US. trust fund is an accounting fiction without real assets.

Figures pulled from 2024 Social Security Administration Supplement: https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/2024/index.html

Table 4.A1: Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund: Receipts, expenditures, and assets, 1937–2023 (in millions of dollars)

Table 4.A2: Disability Insurance Trust Fund: Receipts, expenditures, and assets, 1957–2023 (in millions of dollars)

00:00:00 - Social Security Deficits and Trust Fund
00:01:35 - The $2.8 Trillion Social Security Trust Fund
00:03:12 - The Deficit in Social Security Funding
00:06:25 - The Accounting Fiction of Social Security
00:08:51 - Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund: Outperforming with Real Assets
00:10:12 - Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund: A Unique Financial Powerhouse
00:12:12 - Social Security's Reliance on Tax Dollars, Not Savings

Host: Matthew Mezinskis
https://porkopolis.io
Twitter: https://x.com/crypto_voices?lang=en

Show content is not investment or financial advice in any way.