The distributional aspects of social security and social security reform / edited by Martin Feldstein and Jeffrey B. Liebman.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Feldstein, Martin S.

Liebman, Jeffrey B.

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

National Bureau of Economic Research conference report.

A National Bureau of Economic Research conference report

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social security--United States--Congresses.

Social security.

Social security--United States--Finance--Congresses.

Pension trusts--Investments--United States--Congresses.

Pension trusts.

Privatization--United States--Congresses.

Privatization.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (481 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Social security is the largest and perhaps the most popular program run by the federal government. Given the projected increase in both individual life expectancy and sheer number of retirees, however, the current system faces an eventual overload. Alternative proposals have emerged, ranging from reductions in future benefits to a rise in tax revenue to various forms of investment-based personal retirement accounts. As this volume suggests, the distributional consequences of these proposals are substantially different and may disproportionately affect those groups who depend on social security to avoid poverty in old age. Together, these studies persuasively show that appropriately designed investment-based social security reforms can effectively reduce the long-term burden of an aging society on future taxpayers, increase the expected future income of retirees, and mitigate poverty rates among the elderly.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Preface

Introduction

1. Redistribution in the Current U.S. Social Security System

2. Guaranteed Income: SSI and the Well-Being of the Elderly Poor

3. The Impact of Social Security and Other Factors on the Distribution of Wealth

4. Social Security and Inequality over the Life Cycle

5. Long-Run Effects of Social Security Reform Proposals on Lifetime Progressivity

6. Social Security's Treatment of Postwar Americans: How Bad Can It Get?

7. The Distributional Effects of an Investment-Based Social Security System

8. Distributional Effects in a General Equilibrium Analysis of Social Security

9. The Economics of Bequests in Pensions and Social Security

10. Differential Mortality and the Value of Individual Account Retirement Annuities

Appendix: Estimating Life Tables That Reflect Socioeconomic Differences in Mortality

Contributors

Author Index

Subject Index

Notes:

"The papers in the present volume were presented at a conference in Woodstock, Vermont in October 1999"--pref.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9786611125578

9781281125576

1281125571

9780226241890

0226241890

OCLC:

476229426