One George Bush success
The success is that he failed to privatize Social Security, which today looks like a very good thing. (BTW, Bush himself calls this failure a “success” in his legacy tour interviews.) Paul Krugman:
What would have happened if George W. Bush had actually succeeded in his plan to privatize Social Security? Ask the Italians.
Italy did for retirement financing what President George W. Bush couldn’t do in the U.S.: It privatized part of its social security system. The timing couldn’t have been worse.
The global market meltdown has created losses for those who agreed to shift their contributions from a government severance payment plan to private funds meant to yield higher returns.
…
Gaetano Turchetta, a Rome office manager, made the irreversible move to a private plan after a union representative boasted of the potential for 20 percent annual returns. The 43- year-old father of three now says he would sign with “two hands and two feet” if he could switch back.
