Historian Pronounces Social Security Privatization Dead

President Bush's plan to privatize Social Security will be put on hold until the next administration takes office, a leading Social Security historian told to the Daytona Beach News.

Edward Berkowitz, a history professor at the George Washington University said, "Privatization will go away for a while, but then it will come back later, maybe in the second term of the next president. It will be a boomerang."

He added that only Republican contenders would endorse privatization.

Berkowitz also said that Congress would soon get around to strengthening Social Security, which is facing insolvency.

"Maybe it will be with privatization, but I think it's much more likely they'll do other things - like raise taxes, or raise the retirement age or alter the cost of living adjustment," he said. "Social security will survive but not with out some turbulence."

The money management industry, which privatization critics said would realize a financial windfall from the fees it would make on all the new accounts, remained outside of the debate. Many experts said that many thousands of tiny accounts would, in fact, be a massive headache for the industry.