Greenspan: Fix retirement plans Greenspan: Fix Social Security, Medicare Fed chief says growth of benefit programs, if not addressed, could make budget problems worse. March 2, 2005: 11:46 AM EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress Wednesday that the economy is growing at a reasonably good pace, but that the nation must tackle its budget deficits, primarily through spending restraint. He also urged the House Budget Committee to swiftly address the problems facing Social Security and Medicare, saying that delay will only make the country's budget problems worse. "Addressing the government's own imbalances will require scrutiny of both spending and taxes," Greenspan said. "However, tax increases of sufficient dimension to deal with our looming fiscal problems arguably pose significant risks to economic growth and the revenue base. "The exact magnitude of such risks is very difficult to estimate, but, in my judgment, they are sufficiently worrisome to warrant aiming, if at all possible, to close the fiscal gap primarily, if not wholly, from the outlay side," he added. Greenspan also again endorsed a central piece of President Bush's Social Security overhaul to set up private accounts. But he said other measures were needed to shore up the giant retirement program as well as Medicare, which he said faced even more severe financial strains. The Fed chairman also urged Congress to reinstate lapsed rules requiring tax cuts and spending to be offset elsewhere in the budget. Greenspan noted that solid growth in productivity -- or worker output of goods and services per hour -- would help ease budget strains. "But unless productivity growth far outstrips that embodied in current budget forecasts, it is unlikely to represent more than part of the answer," Greenspan said, adding he could not rule out the possibility that productivity growth will fall short of projections. For the full text of Greenspan's prepared remarks, click here.   Quelle "Greenspan: Fix retirement plans" : Cnn.com Main page for "Greenspan: Fix retirement plans"