Entitlement spending is driving the nation into deeper economic despair than most realize, said hedge fund guru Stanley Druckenmiller.
“I see a storm coming, maybe bigger than the storm we had in 2008, 2010,” Mr. Druckenmiller told Bloomberg TV.
The cost of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid poses much more danger than the oft-debated sequester and will eventually bankrupt the nation, he said. The trio’s unfunded liabilities have already reached $211 trillion, some estimates say.
“While everybody is focusing on the here and now, there’s a much, much bigger storm that’s about to hit,” Mr. Druckenmiller said. “I am not against seniors. What I am against is current seniors stealing from future seniors.”
His statements come as economists are reporting incomes for U.S. households are falling.
Just-released Commerce Department figures show incomes have dropped 3.6 percent, the greatest fall in almost 20 years, Bloomberg says.
“It’s going to be touch and go for the consumer for the next few months,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in Pennsylvania, in the Bloomberg report.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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