LOOK BACK FEATURE Michael Ramirez: Ponzi Scheme (Originally ran on) 02-12-26
From America's Premier Editorial Cartoonist
Going bust. -m
FROM THE DESK OF MICHAEL RAMIREZ:
TODAY’S FEATURED CARTOON ran on 02/12/2026 and it was based on Bitcoin falling below $70,000, and the CBO Budget and Economic Outlook report.
LOOK BACK FEATURE: PONZI SCHEMES
Speaking of Ponzi schemes... According to 2026 reports from the CBO, the Social Security Old-Age and Survivors insurance Trust Fund (OASI) is projected to run out of funds in 2032. The problem stems from having an upside-down replenishment model. In between 1920-2020, an aging population (65 and older) is growing five times faster than the total population, while our youth population (under 18) is declining. 17 states already have a median population age over 40 years old.
Out national median age in 1990 was 32.9. In 2024, it was 39.1.
According to the Census, these numbers are largely driven by the aging “Baby-Boomer” generation, lower fertility rates and slower population growth.
The fiscal impact is stark. We are living longer and getting older, where care and living expenses are driving costs up, at the same time when the number of wage earners who fund these programs are going down.
When Social Security was founded in 1935, they choose the recipient age of 65 because at the time the life expectancy of men was 59.9 years for men, and 63.9 years for women. These numbers were skewed because of high infant and child mortality rates back then but they figured men would live to around 60-62 and women to around 65-67.
You can draw your own conclusions, but it’s pretty obvious Social Security was never meant to be a retirement program for the masses but rather a safety net for the few, mostly women, who survived their spouse’s death. Either way, you get a pretty low return for your investment if you compare Social Security to putting that money into your average stock fund.
Ironically, U.S. population growth was driven largely by immigration -70% to 84% according to the U.S. Census reports. Population growth in 2025 slowed to 0.5% due to a 54% decrease in net migration.
Immigration reform is necessary…. but if we are going to continue to fund these entitlements, entitlement reform AND population growth are also necessary… otherwise we will be on the same path as Japan.
I’m not a big fan of Crypto, whose only real value is based on investor sentiment and some kind of untraceable but not really untraceable utility… but building any system based on replenishment by future investors is not the way to run an ethical business, much less one where a rapidly growing and aging population of the most vulnerable in our society, must rely upon.
Best,
-m
LOOK BACK FEATURE EXPLANATION:
There was about two months during the transition from my social media team that I promise to catch everyone up on. You will see LOOK BACK FEATURE in the title which indicates that this was a cartoon that was missed during that transition and the original publication date.
I will continue this feature until we work our way back to Dec 15, 2025, when the last cartoon that was posted before the transition, and in subsequent times in the future where on old archived cartoon might relate to today’s issues... or just because I want to force it on you. Lol.
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Is there a way to upgrade it? Or to erase it?