This work puts debates about Social Security reform into historical perspective, considers various reform ideas, and elaborates a proposal to ensure that the system can continue to meet the claims of the retired and the disabled. It sets out a plan to change the way Social Security is financed.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
This comprehensive overview of Social Security's past and future places an enormous amount of technical information into a format ordinary readers can understand. Although a few parts are tough going, an abundance of tables and figures are a big help. The authors chronicle the development of Social Security from its origins as an FDR project in the 1930s to its current position as an enormously popular program in deep trouble. Indeed, without significant reform, say the authors, Social Security won't be around for the baby boom generation. Politicians are partly to blame, and the public has been duped: "The myth that people are only getting what they paid for has stuck in the public mind; the practical arithmetic proving that they have gotten enormous unwarranted benefits to the tune of $11.4 trillion has been easily brushed aside." The authors show, for example, that Ida May Fuller, the first retiree ever to receive Social Security benefits, paid a grand total of $24.75 into the system. Her first monthly check, however, was for $22.54, and she collected nearly $30,000 in benefits during her retirement. The problem today, of course, is that fewer workers are supporting more retirees--a pay-as-you-go system that Schieber and Shoven argue is unsustainable. They review a series of current reform proposals and then advance their own: mandatory private savings accounts for workers. These could be invested in the stock market or elsewhere, but couldn't be touched until retirement. --John J. Miller
From Library Journal
The 2000 elections will inevitably present the public with another opportunity to hear all the candidates offer various and contradictory solutions for saving Social Security. But it's difficult for the average person to sort through the proposals or to understand the dimensions of the problem. This book is a wonderful primer on these issues. Schieber (vice president, Watson Wyatt Worldwide) and Shoven (economics, Stanford) deliver a thorough history of the origins and development of the Social Security program. They then turn to a balanced analysis of the major problem facing the systemAkeeping it solvent as the baby boomers retire without drastically raising payroll taxes or decreasing benefits. Although the authors explain and analyze the major alternatives presented by politicians and economists over the past 20 years, they also present their own proposal. Some readers may find their ideas (like mandatory private retirement accounts) too drastic, but to the authors' credit, they don't shrink from controversy. This is an excellent book that anyone interested in understanding the Social Security system and its future should read.AThomas J. Baldino, Wilkes Univ., Wilkes-Barre, PA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Surprising information,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Real Deal: The History and Future of Social Security (Paperback)
I was surprised by the detailed information in this book. Finally I own a single-volume play-by-play historical account of how vote-hungry politicians in the 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's transformed the Social Security program from a good idea into the pathetic ponzi scheme that it is today.
7 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Don't bother me with the facts - I'm into fantasy...,
This review is from: The Real Deal: The History and Future of Social Security (Paperback)
The authors do an excellent job of presenting the historical and demographic facts behind Social Security.
Social Security is an intergenerational welfare program. Money is taken from working people, and given to retirees. There is no "trust fund" - no magic pile of money somewhere to fund your retirement. Any excess Social Security taxes have been spent by the government for something else. The generational wave (aka "baby boomers") will be retiring soon. That means there will be a lot more retirees - and a lot fewer working people to pay Social Security taxes. There will not be enough Social Security taxes coming in to pay retirees. We have three options: Reduce payments to retirees. Increase taxes on workers. Borrow the money from somewhere. Anyone who reads this book, and doesn't believe Social Security is in crisis, is not interested in facts - they are just looking for "a good fantasy". Peter Simmons Author - The Next Crash
9 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If You Really Want to Understand the Issues ...,
By Walter Hart (Los Lunas, NM USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Real Deal: The History and Future of Social Security (Paperback)
Read "The Real Deal: The History and Future of Social Security" if you really want to understand the issues surrounding Social Security and what is at stake for our country. The media and political establishment nowhere present the "Real Deal" about what is wrong with Social Security. Only by learning its history (did you know that Social Security initially was intended by FDR to be a funded system?) can one really understand how we got to where we are now. Be informed - read "The Real Deal: The History and Future of Social Security" by Schieber and Shoven.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
First Sentence:
For more than twenty years, the movie To Fly has been shown several times each day at the Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
zooo plan, earnings distribution scale, average taxable wages, accumulating trust fund, fly bonds, trust fund accumulations, average covered earnings, covered payroll, prototypical workers, esthetic logic, payroll tax collections, preretirement standard, low lifetime earnings, actuarial deficit, indexed earnings, personal security account, higher earning levels, payroll tax rate, rebalance the system, total dependency ratio, windfall benefits, flat benefit, trust fund assets, actuaries estimate, indexed monthly earnings Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Bob Ball, Arthur Altmeyer, Douglas Brown, Robert Ball, Edwin Witte, Office of the Actuary, Senate Finance Committee, Carolyn Weaver, Annual Statistical Supplement, Bob Myers, President Roosevelt, President Clinton, White House, Wilbur Cohen, Government Printing Office, Brookings Institution, Edith Fierst, Martha Derthick, New York, Paul Samuelson, Supreme Court, Senator Vandenberg, World War, House of Representatives New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
For more than twenty years, the movie To Fly has been shown several times each day at the Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
zooo plan, earnings distribution scale, average taxable wages, accumulating trust fund, fly bonds, trust fund accumulations, average covered earnings, covered payroll, prototypical workers, esthetic logic, payroll tax collections, preretirement standard, low lifetime earnings, actuarial deficit, indexed earnings, personal security account, higher earning levels, payroll tax rate, rebalance the system, total dependency ratio, windfall benefits, flat benefit, trust fund assets, actuaries estimate, indexed monthly earnings Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Bob Ball, Arthur Altmeyer, Douglas Brown, Robert Ball, Edwin Witte, Office of the Actuary, Senate Finance Committee, Carolyn Weaver, Annual Statistical Supplement, Bob Myers, President Roosevelt, President Clinton, White House, Wilbur Cohen, Government Printing Office, Brookings Institution, Edith Fierst, Martha Derthick, New York, Paul Samuelson, Supreme Court, Senator Vandenberg, World War, House of Representatives New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 48
books:
See all 48 books this book cites
24
books
cite this book:
See all 24 books citing this book
- Social Security (Pension Research Council) by Robert Julius Myers on 34 pages
- Social Security by Sylvester J. Schieber on 20 pages
- Formative Years of Social Security by Arthur J. Altmeyer on 5 pages
- The Big Lie: What Every Baby Boomer Should Know About Social Security and Medicare by A. Haeworth Robertson on page 122, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Interim report to the President by United States on page 247, and Back Matter
See all 48 books this book cites
- Saving Social Security: A Balanced Approach by Peter A. Diamond in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- The Divided Welfare State: The Battle over Public and Private Social Benefits in the United States by Jacob S. Hacker in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Saving Social Security: A Balanced Approach by Peter A. Diamond in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- The Economic Implications of Aging Societies: The Costs of Living Happily Ever After by Steven A. Nyce in Front Matter, page 47, and page 239
- PERSONAL SAVING, PERSONAL CHOICE (HOOVER INST PRESS PUBLICATION) by David A. Wise on page 43, page 58, and page 72
See all 24 books citing this book
Books on Related Topics
(learn more)
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
