More on Greenspan and Social Security

In prepared testimony before the House Committee on Financial Services Thursday, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan repeated, word for word, what he said to the Senate the prior day regarding social security:

Beyond the near term, benefits promised to a burgeoning retirement-age population under mandatory entitlement programs, most notably Social Security and Medicare, threaten to strain the resources of the working-age population in the years ahead. Real progress on these issues will unavoidably entail many difficult choices. But the demographics are inexorable, and call for action before the leading edge of baby boomer retirement becomes evident in 2008. This is especially the case because longer-term problems, if not addressed, could begin to affect longer-dated debt issues, the value of which is based partly on expectations of developments many years in the future.

So how did the media report the second speech? Since the prepared text did not differ from the speech the prior day, where is the "newsworthiness"? That lies in the not transcripted and thus unavailable-unless-you-live-in-DC-and-can-attend-the-hearing Q-and-A session.

• Greenspan: Social Security is not in 'crisis' (AZ Central, USA Today story)
• Greenspan's Caution - Read the fine print: His support for Bush Social Security reform is tepid (Newsday)
• Greenspan Likes Bush's Ownership Agenda (LA Times)
• Greenspan undermines Bush policies (South Africa Business Report)
• The Marketplace Report: Greenspan's Social Security Cautions (NPR, audio)
• Greenspan: Accounts good for economy
• UPDATE 2-'Ownership' key Social Security goal-Greenspan (Reuters)

See House Committee on Financial Services and Greenspan Testimony (pdf)