Bill Clinton: “Well, I think there are a couple of explanations. First of all, we live in a time where people are using technology to…”

“Well, I think there are a couple of explanations. First of all, we live in a time where people are using technology to become more and more self-sufficient and to get more and more information directly. I mean, the Internet is the fastest growing communications organism in human history. So I think that. Secondly, I think there's always been a healthy skepticism of Government. And thirdly, the Government hasn't been in very great favor over the last 17 or 18 years, although it's doing better now than it was a few years ago. Now, I think--in public esteem--all the surveys also show that. I think the real question is, from my point of view, we ought to get down to the merits of this. The first question you have to ask yourself is, should a portion of the Social Security tax funds go into securities, into stocks? And if they should go into stocks or into corporate bonds, should that decision be made according to individual accounts, or should they be invested en masse either by the Government or by some sort of nonprofit, nonpolitical corporation set up to handle this? And I think there are genuine concerns. For example, if the Government did it and they invested the money in stocks, would private retirement funds just have to make up the difference by buying Government bonds, or would there be no aggregate increase in saving or investment in the country? Would it give the Government too much influence over any company or any sector of our economy? But I think most people just think, ``If there is going to be a risk taken, I'd rather take it than have the Government take it for me.'' I don't think it's very complicated, so I think that those who believe that it's safer and better for people to have the public do the investing-- or the Government do the investment--have to bear that burden. Those who favor, by the way, having individual accounts, have to ask what happens to people who happen to retire after the market has gone down for 5 years. So there are problems with both approaches, and benefits. [An audience member asked if the Government would guarantee current benefits if individual accounts were exhausted by old age, bad investments, or market downturns; if doing so would create another problem; or if not doing so would inevitably plunge old people into poverty.]”