http://www.latimes.com/business/la-na-nobel11may11,1,3744665.story?coll=la-headlines-business
Nobel Prize economists have trouble managing their investments, as this LA Times piece points out. If the Bush administration is allowed to phase out the defined Social Security benefit, how likely is it that the non Nobel Prize winning, non economist will be able to manage a "private account"?
Social Security has always been envisioned as a safety net for all of us. Private accounts take away that safety net, and encourage us to build our own hay bales beneath us. Some will be better able to build those bales than others. Some will build really crappy bales.