The real deal : the history and future of social security / Sylvester J. Schieber & John B. Shoven.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Schieber, Sylvester J.

Contributor:

• Shoven, John B.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• Social security--United States--History.
• Social security.
• United States.
• History.
• Social security--United States--Finance.
• Finance.

Local Subjects:

• Social security--United States--History.
• Social security--United States--Finance.

Physical Description:

xix, 450 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New Haven [Conn.] : Yale University Press, [1999]

Summary:

• Will the Social Security system founder as millions of baby boomers enter their retirement years? Is the frightening vision of an impoverished old age a glimpse into the real future for Americans of the next generation? The authors of this book put debates about Social Security reform into historical perspective, consider various reform ideas, and elaborate a proposal to ensure that the system can continue to meet the claims of the retired and disabled. Sylvester J. Schieber and John B. Shoven, leading experts on retirement issues, set forth a carefully considered plan to change the way we finance Social Security and thereby secure its future viability.
• Exploring the history of the Social Security system from its origins during the Depression to its current troubled prospects, Schieber and Shoven analyze the program's economic structure and introduce the remarkable personalities who influenced its evolution. The authors show how Social Security today differs from the program Franklin D. Roosevelt envisioned an how the shift to pay-as-you-go funding has led to the systems current problems. Seen in historical context, some reform approaches are revealed as a renewal of attempts to fund Social Security through means that have repeatedly failed. The authors a true mandatory private retirement savings account. For workers -- a proposal that would lighten retirement-security burdens for future generations, avoid tax increases, and preserve the system's progressivity. This book is essential reading not only for policymakers but for anyone else who wishes to understand what Social Security reform will mean for us as a nation and as individuals.

Contents:

• In Memory of Shannon J. Schieber xvii
• 1. Social Security: Avoiding the Downstream Catastrophe 1
• Part I. Social Security in America: From Conception to Maturity
• 2. The Context for the Passage of the Social Security Act in 1935 17
• 3. Developing the Social Security Act of 1935 26
• 4. Starting Up and Starting Over 43
• 5. To Fund or Not to Fund? 66
• 6. Unresolved Issues 77
• 7. A Deal That Couldn't Be Beat 92
• 8. The Inside Movers and Shakers 115
• 9. The Outside Movers, Shakers, and Takers 128
• 10. The End of the Beginning 146
• Part II. Overreaching and Stepping Back
• 11. A Tale of Good Intentions Gone Bad 165
• 12. The Continued Deterioration of the System and the Big Fix: The 1983 Amendments 183
• 13. Backsliding 196
• 14. Fundamental Questions 208
• 15. The Iron Rules of Arithmetic Assert Themselves 229
• 16. Social Security in the Bigger Picture 242
• Part III. The New Realities
• 17. Heathens in the Temple 263
• 18. Social Security Today and Marginal Proposals for Reform 290
• 19. A Framework for Understanding the Options for Social Security Reform 308
• 20. The Return to Pay-Go Financing 328
• 21. Wanting to Fund Is Not Enough 346
• 22. The Benefits and Risks Under Alternative Forms of Retirement Provision 372
• 23. A Proposal for Reform 386
• 24. It's Your Money We're Talking About 409.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 419-440) and index.

ISBN:

• 0300081480
• 0300081499

OCLC:

40954267