Quote:How do you rack up 65.3 trillion in unfunded liability? I suspect it is $208 billion at a time.Actually, you rack it up a year at a time. Or a decade. Or any length of time you like. That's the thing about scary "unfunded liability" numbers - they appear to be large lump sums, but they're calculated by just adding the flows up, unto some arbitrarily long future horizon. That 65.3 trillion is accumulated over what, the next 50 years? 100 years? The US has octillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities... if you measure from now until the sun explodes.
The relevant question is what it will take to cover the costs, as a flow.
From the CBO:
Quote:The term "unfunded liabilities" has been the source of considerable confusion, leading some people to misconstrue the economic significance of trust funds and trust fund balances. The term may also suggest that certain liabilities are funded when, in fact, the real source of all funding is the government's ability to levy taxes.
-Jester