首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Reforming the Social Security retirement program is an issue of enormous practical importance. Yet it remains the missing piece
Reforming the Social Security retirement program is an issue of enormous practical importance. Yet it remains the missing piece
admin
2013-01-12
96
问题
Reforming the Social Security retirement program is an issue of enormous practical importance. Yet it remains the missing piece in American policy analysis. At a time when the Congress and the Administration are considering ways to reform welfare, Medicare, Medicaid, and the income tax, elected officials are still unwilling to confront the serious problems of our Social Security system. Eventually, however, its deteriorating financial condition will force major reforms. Whether those reforms are good or bad, whether they deal with the basic economic problems of the system or merely protect the solvency of existing institutional arrange-ments will depend in part on whether we, as economists, provide the appropriate intellectual framework for analyzing reform alternatives.
Major policy changes that affect the public at large can only happen in our democracy, when there is widespread public support for the new direction of policy. In the field of economics, the views of the media, of other private-sector opinion leaders, and of politicians and their advisers, depend very much on their perception of what economists believe feasible and correct. Fundamental policy reforms in a complex area like social security also require the devel opment of technical expertise, both in and out of government, about the options for change and their likely consequences. Fortunately, an expanding group of economists is now thinking and writing about social security reform. My remarks today greatly benefit from what they have written and from my conversations with many of them.
I began to do my research on the effects of Social Security reform nearly 25 years ago(Feldstein, 1974, 1975). A central concept in my analysis of Social Security has been the notion of" Social Security wealth" , which I defined as the present actuarial value of the Social Security benefits to which the current adult population will be entitled at age 65 (or are already entitled to if they are older than 65) minus the present actuarial value of the Social Security taxes that they will pay before reaching that age. Social Security wealth has now grown to about $ 11 trillion or more than 1. 5 times GDP. Since this is equivalent to more than $ 50, 000 for every adult in the country, the value of Social Security wealth substantially exceeds all other assets for the vast majority of American households. In the aggregate, Social Security wealth exceeds three-fourths of all private financial wealth, as conventionally measured.
Social Security wealth is of course not real wealth but only a claim on current and future taxpayers. Instead of labeling this key magnitude"Social Security wealth" , 1 could have called it the nation’s "Social Security liability". Like ordinary government debt, Social Security wealth has the power to crowd out private capital accumulation, and Social Security wealth will continue to grow as long as our current system remains unchanged displacing an ever larger stock of capital.
The $ 11 trillion Social Security liability is three times as large as the official national debt Although I certainly welcome the current political efforts to shrink future budget deficits.it is worm noting that, even if the traditional deficit is eliminated in the year 2002, so that the national debt is then uo longer increasing, the national debt in the form of the Social Security liability is likely to increase that year by about $ 300 billion.
Looking further into the future, the aggregate Social Security liability will grow as the population expands, as it becomes relatively older, and as income rises. Government actuaries predict that, under existing law, the tax rate required to pay each year’s Social Security benefit will rise over the next 50 years from the present level of slightly less than 12 percent to more than 18 percent, and perhaps to as much as 23 percent
According to the author, major policy changes can only happen in______.
选项
A、social security wealth in the United States
B、democratic countries
C、a country where and when opinion upholds change
D、all of the above
答案
D
解析
文章指出,影响广大公众的重大政策的改变只能发生在民主政治国家,在那里对新的政策有广泛的支持力量。第二段Major policy changes that affect the public at large can only happen in ourdemocracy,when there is widespread public support for the new direction of policy.
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/Zy9O777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
Thewarwasthemostpeacefulperiodofmylife.Thewindowofmybedroomfacedsoutheast.Mymotherhadcurtainedit,butthat
Thewarwasthemostpeacefulperiodofmylife.Thewindowofmybedroomfacedsoutheast.Mymotherhadcurtainedit,butthat
Onephaseofthebusinesscycleistheexpansionphase.Thisphaseisatwo-foldone,includingrecoveryandprosperity.During
ThepoetryofGwendolynBrookshasbeenpraisedfordeepeningthesignificanceofpersonalandsocialexperiencessothatthese
ThepoetryofGwendolynBrookshasbeenpraisedfordeepeningthesignificanceofpersonalandsocialexperiencessothatthese
Worldpopulationwillcontinuerisingfromthecurrent5billionuntilabout2050,butifthetrendsofthe1980scontinue,itw
WehaveinAmericaa______speechthatisneitherAmerican,OxfordEnglish,norEnglishbutacombinationofthethree.
Inthepastfewdecades,remarkablefindingshavebeenmadeinethology,thestudyofanimalsocialbehavior.Earlierscientists
Livinginpoverty,Johnsoldfor500dollarsthe______ofhismother’sfirstworkwhichmadeherfamous.
随机试题
三合土基础的宽不应小于()mm。
在确保计算机操作系统满足会计软件的运行要求,并安装完毕数据库管理软件和支持性软件后,技术支持人员方可开始安装会计软件。()
上海证券交易所会员参与证券交易及会员权限的管理是通过交易单元实现的。()
出资人以其他公司股权出资,符合特定条件的,人民法院应当认定出资人已履行出资义务,该特定条件包括()。
A注册会计师承担了X公司20×4年度财务报表的审计工作.开始执行外勤审计工作的时间为20×5年3月5日,预计全部审计工作的完成时间为20×5年3月15日,并拟于当日提交审计报告。X公司管理层计划对外公布已审计的财务报表和审计报告的时间为3月20日。A注册会
下列营养素中,()有利于维护心血管的正常功能和结构。
关于我国区域经济发展格局,说法不正确的是()。
公安机关职责的特点包括()。
剪纸
A、 B、 C、 D、 A
最新回复
(
0
)