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Polymerase chain reaction is a cornerstone of molecular biology research. Using short pieces of single-stranded DNA called primers the previously invisible becomes tangible.

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

Politics: Social Security, Do the Math

Paul Krugman points out an issue previously not considered in the current discussion of Social Security Privatization. Privatization proponents claim that transferring your tax dollars from guaranteed investments in the Social Security Trust Fund to corporately managed private accounts will fix a hypothetical funding shortfall that may be as far away as half a decade. For these private accounts to work, however, they need to return 6.5 to 7 percent annually for the next 75 years. Of course if they were performing so well, it would also mean that the economy was performing better than predicted. And if the economy was performing better than predicted, Social Security would be solvent through the foreseeable future without alterations.

See Krugman’s editorial, “Many Unhappy Returns”, in today’s NY Times.

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