The Waterkooler

Now that we are moving toward an "ownership society," more and more we each have our interests vested together. The days when you could argue that the goings-on on Wall Street were meaningless to the Average Joe are of the past. With our 401-K's and Social Security funds tied to the market, more eyes in this country are watching Wall Street than ever before.

"Markets go up and markets go down. But the slide over the last month on Wall Street is hardly good timing for President Bush, who now finds himself with another issue to explain as he struggles to win over public opinion -- and the votes he needs in Congress -- for his proposal to add investment accounts to Social Security," according to The New York Times. "The evidence shows that long-term market investment for Social Security, while hardly risk free, bears little resemblance to the 'meltdown' scenarios painted by many account opponents," says former Cato social security analyst Andrew G. Biggs in "Personal Accounts in a Down Market: How Recent Stock Market Declines Affect the Social Security Reform Debate."