Of Joseph, Plenty, and Famine: A story

I want to tell a story. This story is from the Bible.

There was a Hebrew named Joseph in this story. He had become a slave to the Pharaoh of the time, and he had become known as an interpreter of dreams.

One day the Pharaoh came to Joseph with a dream. Joseph's interpretation was that in the future there would be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Therefore, the Pharaoh set up a program of storing grain, so that by the end of the first seven years the bins were full, since during that time there was plenty.

Then the seven years of famine followed. The Pharaoh had enough grain saved up from the years of plenty that he could sell the grain to the people round about, in addition to supplying his own needs. And the story ended happily.

The reason I bring this up is that this is similar to what has happened in the more recent past.

During the period from 1945 to 1960 (approximately) the birth rate in the United States was very high. This resulted in the generation known as the "Baby Boomers."

To make a long story short, by 1985, the leading edge of the Baby Boomers had become forty, and politicians began to realize that eventually these people would retire, so Social Security would need some changes to cope with the huge influx of people, beginning in 2008. Therefore, Social Security taxes (which fall mostly in the poor) were increased.

That is, the realization was that we were in for about twenty five years of plenty followed by about twenty five years of famine. Therefore, Social Security would collect extra money during the years of plenty so it would be available during the years of famine.

At the same time, one of the "Greatest Generation" (tongue in cheek) decided that the economy needed stimulating, so he directed that income taxes, which fall mostly on the wealthy, needed to be cut dramatically. The result was a huge financial shortfall, and the national debt skyrocketed.

In about 1990, the president (George H. W. Bush) realized that the economy wasn't being stimulated, rather the wealthy were getting richer due to their decreased tax load, and the poor were getting poorer due to their increased taxes. Therefore, he directed that taxes were to be increased on the wealthy (although he didn't cut the taxes on the poor).

Therefore, by 1992, he was discredited by the Republicans because he "increased taxes," and as a result, he was not re-elected. Clinton, fortunately, continued Bush's policies, working toward eventually at least balancing the budget. This was despite threats to him personally, as well as political challenges. (The taxes on the poor remained the same.)

Unlike the Pharaoh, Clinton did not advocate storing funds for use during the twenty five years of famine, only that the huge hemorrhage in the budget be stopped.

Then George W. Bush was elected president. His first acts were to cut the taxes for the wealthy (although the taxes for the poor were allowed to continue at their high level). This has been allowed to continue until today.

But this story is only half way complete. The twenty five years of plenty are pretty much behind us. Does anyone want to predict what will happen during the twenty five years of famine?