St. Louis FED: Stocks Pay Higher Expected Returns than CDs

Donald Luskin is pushing this paper from Thomas A. Garrett and Russell M. Rhine as proof we should support Bush’s Social Security proposals. Their paper tells us two things we already knew: the expected return on stocks exceeds the risk-free rate but actual returns may vary. And one would do better if one did not have to address the lack of prefunding that existed for the early cohorts when the FDR Administration began this program. Wow – if I had a time machine, I’d go back to the 50’s and invest the ranch in McDonald’s stock. I would also short-sell anything that Luskin recommended as holding.