Investigations and deregulation

1. 19821982Taxes & Government Spending

   SEC adopts Rule 10b-18, a safe harbor for companies buying their own stock

   S&P 500 buybacks reached $942.5 billion in 2024.

   Source: Division of Trading and Markets: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions Concerning Rule 10b-18Read the full story →
2. 1983April 20, 1983Taxes & Government Spending

   Social Security amendments: higher taxes, taxed benefits, retirement at 67

   To build a reserve that was lent to the Treasury and spent.

   Source: Summary of P.L. 98-21, the Social Security Amendments of 1983Read the full story →

Stories (1)

• 1983 to 2026The 1983 Social Security Tax Hike and How the Treasury Spent the $2.9 Trillion SurplusIn 1983 Congress raised the payroll tax, taxed Social Security benefits for the first time at income thresholds it has never adjusted for inflation, delayed a cost of living increase, and raised the retirement age to 67, so that the workers of the 1980s and 1990s would pay in more than the program paid out and build a reserve for their own retirement. They did, for nearly forty years. By law every dollar of it was lent to the Treasury, and the cash, in the Social Security Administration's words, goes into the general fund and is indistinguishable from other cash in the general fund. The government spent it. It owes its trust funds, Social Security's among them, $7.7 trillion, and paying that back means taxing or borrowing the same money again. The reserve has been shrinking since 2021 and is projected to be gone in 2032.Taxes & Government Spending