The United States social security system is the nation's largest social insurance program. As such, it has a far-reaching impact throughout the economy, influencing not only old-age economic security but also many behaviors, including corporate employment policy, retirement patterns, and personal saving. In the past, the system's universal coverage and generous benefits ensured popular support to a degree enjoyed by no other form of "big government" social spending.
Yet over two-thirds of all Americans today believe that the social security system will face bankruptcy by the time they retire. The question of social security reform—how to reform the system or whether the system needs reform at all—is the subject of heated debate at all levels of government, in the media, and among workers, pensioners, and employers.
Prospects for Social Security Reform informs the debate by exploring why the system is at a crossroads today and what to do about it. Contributors detail the size and nature of the problem, explain views of key "stakeholders" regarding reform options, and report new evidence on how reform might affect the economy. Research findings and public opinion polls are analyzed, as are lessons from other countries experimenting with new ways to deliver old-age benefit promises.
No other volume includes as diverse and expert a set of perspectives on reform and privatization as those gathered here from economists, actuaries, employers, investment managers, and representatives of organized labor. Among its chapters is the path-breaking study "Social Security Money's Worth," the 1999 winner of the TIAA-CREF's Paul A. Samuelson Award for Outstanding Scholarly Writing on Lifelong Financial Security.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"This latest installment in the Pension Research Council series brings together a wealth of information for those concerned with public policy options. . . .The book is substantive. . . . It provides data, estimates, models, and a framework to help readers think about the underlying problems in the system."—Industrial and Labor Relations Review
About the Author
Olivia S. Mitchell is Executive Director of the Pension Research Council and Professor of Insurance and Risk Management at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Robert J. Myers is a Special Consultant to the Social Security Division of William M. Mercer, Inc. and former Chief Actuary of the Social Security System. Howard Young is a former Special Consultant to the President of the United Auto Workers Union and former Adjunct Professor of Mathematics at the University of Michigan.
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This review is from: Prospects for Social Security Reform (Pension Research Council Publications) (Hardcover)
While the book provides an excellent background and a good assessment of likely options, it glossed over some considered politically unfeasible but which might be popular among the voters - for example, removing the cap on Social Security wages. It is clear the financial markets are dying to get their hands on the money. At the same time, most in the investment community don't want to create another board like CalPERS, which is active in corporate governance. Spinning out a portion to something like a defined contribution plan seems almost inevitable but is likely to result in higher administrative costs.
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
The U.S. social security system has played a central role in improving the well-being of older Americans since the Great Depression. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
recognition bond debt, average actuarial deficit, summarized cost rate, different social security regimes, individual account finances, personal account benefit, summarized income rate, composite worker, three simulation modes, trust fund ratio, individual social security accounts, close actuarial balance, trust fund investment policy, labor supply measures, current social security program, social security reform proposals, expected benefit levels, privatization spectrum, policy simulation model, trust fund exhaustion, selected birth cohorts, accumulated trust fund, taxable payroll, current social security system, stylized economy Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Advisory Council, United States, Board of Trustees, New York, Technical Panel, World Bank, Office of the Actuary, Birth Cohort Annual, Monte Carlo, University of Chicago Press, Employee Benefit Research Institute, Internal Revenue Service, Personal Security Account, Congressional Budget Office, Latin America, Thrift Savings Plan, National Bureau of Economic Research, Maintain Benefits, National Academy of Social Insurance, Olivia Mitchell, Year Born, Great Depression, Supplemental Security Income, American Economic Review, Economic Development New!
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The U.S. social security system has played a central role in improving the well-being of older Americans since the Great Depression. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
recognition bond debt, average actuarial deficit, summarized cost rate, different social security regimes, individual account finances, personal account benefit, summarized income rate, composite worker, three simulation modes, trust fund ratio, individual social security accounts, close actuarial balance, trust fund investment policy, labor supply measures, current social security program, social security reform proposals, expected benefit levels, privatization spectrum, policy simulation model, trust fund exhaustion, selected birth cohorts, accumulated trust fund, taxable payroll, current social security system, stylized economy Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Advisory Council, United States, Board of Trustees, New York, Technical Panel, World Bank, Office of the Actuary, Birth Cohort Annual, Monte Carlo, University of Chicago Press, Employee Benefit Research Institute, Internal Revenue Service, Personal Security Account, Congressional Budget Office, Latin America, Thrift Savings Plan, National Bureau of Economic Research, Maintain Benefits, National Academy of Social Insurance, Olivia Mitchell, Year Born, Great Depression, Supplemental Security Income, American Economic Review, Economic Development New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 50
books:
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28
books
cite this book:
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- Social Security (Pension Research Council) by Robert Julius Myers on 12 pages
- Social Security by Sylvester J. Schieber on 9 pages
- Privatizing Social Security (National Bureau of Economic Research Project Report) by Martin Feldstein on 7 pages
- Social Security Reform (The Lindahl Lectures) by Peter A. Diamond on page 58, page 148, and page 219
- The Economics of Aging (National Bureau of Economic Research Project Report) by David A. Wise on page 183, page 292, and page 371
See all 50 books this book cites
- Social Security Under the Gun: What Every Informed Citizen Needs to Know About Pension Reform by Arthur Benavie on 7 pages
- Innovations in Retirement Financing (Pension Research Council Publications) by Olivia S. Mitchell on 5 pages
- Pensions in the Public Sector (Pension Research Council Publications) by Olivia S. Mitchell on 4 pages
- Forecasting Retirement Needs and Retirement Wealth (Pension Research Council Publications) by Olivia S. Mitchell on page 159, page 234, and Back Matter
- Irrational Exuberance by Robert J. Shiller in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
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