Latest figures from the Bank of International Settlements: $8.3 trillion of real money is controlling $313 trillion in derivatives. That's 38 to 1 leverage. If there's a fire-sale in hedge funds or derivatives, there's nothing the Plunge Protection Team or the Federal Reserve will be able to do to stop a meltdown. The market will crash leaving nothing behind.

If the Social Security Trust Fund were invested in non-government assets, they could simply cash out whenever they wanted to, which would give us another 25 years to solve the problem. If we want to solve this mess anytime soon, the best way to start would be to stop investing social security funds in treasuries and start investing like everyone else.