Dave wrote:
On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 13:02:21 GMT, "Wolfie" said:

Meanwhile Social Security
(to name one) were buying federal securities because they were
collecting more money than they were spending

And would that be the case if social security were operating on an
accrual basis, rather than a cash basis?

They'd still be collecting more than they pay out, yes.
That's not dependent upon accounting methods.
Social security -- and other entitlements -- don't match
too well with similar private sector plans anyway.
Congress can always increase or decrease benefits
whenever they want. "Pay-as-you-go" is, IMO,
more appropriate when you can't forecast any
future liabilities to any degree of accuracy.