Joseph Fried is an MBA and a practicing CPA specializing in governmental auditing, the audit of nonprofit organizations, and the peer review of other CPA firms. Fried is an expert in Social Security policy, and the waste, fraud, and abuse that are reflected in all facets of the program. He has published two books with Algora Publishing.

Mr. Fried serves as director of the Public Program Testing Organization (PPTO), an Ohio-based nonprofit organization that seeks to identify and eliminate waste in the governmental and nonprofit sectors. Working on behalf of the PPTO, Mr. Fried determined that several Texas school districts were illegally giving workers Social Security coverage in a scheme that will cause the government to pay over $2 billion to ineligible beneficiaries. The Office of Inspector General investigated these allegations and confirmed their accuracy and validity in a report issued in 2007. (See report at http://www.ssa.gov/oig/ADOBEPDF/A-09-06-26086.pdf.)

If you're not mad yet, you will be. Opinionated and well-documented, the book goes beyond discussions of the pending insolvency of Social Security to illustrate numerous distortions in the way Social Security distributions are...

If you're not mad yet, you will be. Opinionated and well-documented, the book goes beyond discussions of the pending insolvency of Social Security to illustrate numerous distortions in the way Social Security distributions are made, often to the benefit of those who need it least. Fried, a CPA and an MBA, illustrates his points with easy-to-follow scenarios, and offers prescriptions to make the system more equitable. By now, most people realize that Social Security is no bargain, but few are aware of the staggering waste and inequities built into the system. This easy-to-read book expands the Social Security debate to the areas of disability abuse, fraud, and inequitable benefit shifting. Includes references, index, and questions readers might like to ask of their elected representatives.

How Social Security Picks Your Pocket exposes how Social Security is implemented - who wins, who loses, and how the game is played; and offers suggestions for improvements to the system.