Last week I attended a wonderful economics conference at the American Institute for Economic Research in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. It was great to catch up with some old friends and meet some new ones.
I gave a presentation on the use and abuse of word choice in accounting. I’m on vacation this week, theoretically, but had to share one very funny moment.
I was discussing the messaging on the “My Account” page for the Social Security Administration, in light of the financial condition of Social Security and the reasons the federal government has offered for not including the massive unfunded obligation as a liability on its balance sheet.
I showed the picture at the front of that web page, which includes the text “Set yourself free. Open a my Social Security account today and rest easy knowing that you’re in control of your future.” One participant (Gavin Roberts) said “Well, maybe it isn’t that misleading. He is looking over a cliff.”
