[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 34 (Thursday, March 4, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H964]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    IT IS TIME TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD, 
                           COMPOUND INTEREST

  (Mr. COOKSEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COOKSEY. Mr. Speaker, Baron Rothschild once said, I do not know 
what the Seven Wonders of the World are, but I do know the eighth, 
compound interest. Mr. Speaker, Baron Rothschild called compound 
interest the eighth wonder of the world for a good reason. Modest 
amounts of money, when invested and then reinvested, grow over time in 
a spectacular fashion. It takes patience but it works, as all seniors 
who started out with modest means but saved now know.
  The biggest reason why social security needs to be reformed is not 
because it is going bankrupt, although it is impossible to deny that it 
is. No, the biggest reason why social security needs to be reformed is 
because the current system denies ordinary workers the benefits of 
compound interest. Money taken out of a worker's paycheck does not go 
into a fund that will earn compound interest. It is spent. The money 
does not grow, and benefits can only come from taking money out of 
someone else's paycheck.
  It is time to take advantage of the eighth wonder of the world.

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