Have We Reached Peak Entitlements? Charles Hugh Smith
Let's zero in on entitlement program spending. Personal Current Transfer Receipts (PCTR) include all transfer payments to individuals, a category that includes all social welfare programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
So what does this graph tell us?
It says that entitlement spending has increased by 500% since about 1990. To put this into some perspective - at an inflation rate of 5% per year prices over 23 years would have increased by about 300%. So why the extra 200%?
This is the Age of Entitlement.
There are many groups in society who somehow believe that society owes them something. From children finishing school who are entitled to a university education even when the course they are studying does not provide them with a skill that is wanted.
There are so called disadvantaged communities the unskilled and unqualified, single mothers, racially specified groups, baby boomers, retirees, the unemployed, and the list goes on and on.
All these groups expecting that someone else must take responsibility for their life choices and mistakes. And as these groups get larger and larger they become more and more attractive for politicians to target.
