Don’t forget inflation factor

Your otherwise-informed article about Social Security skirts one thing: Inflation. (Aug. 6, “Social Security not deal it once was for workers”). Dollars paid in will always be worth more than dollars received. High inflation (starting with Nixon, remember) allowed government and private employers to pay obligations in the future with cheaper money.

That Social Security payments are indexed is right. The political pressure for this, and to hold inflation down, are results of older people’s experiences seeing their savings eroded. Old people aren’t so feeble-minded they forget to vote, after all. Go FDR.

Doug Grandpre

Lake Stevens