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
2011-02-26
41
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 arrangements 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 development 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 year 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 $50000 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," I 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 worth noting that, even if the traditional deficit is eliminated in the year 2002, so that the national debt is then no 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 become 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、America.
B、democratic countries.
C、a country where and when opinion upholds change.
D、all of the above.
E、none of the abov
答案
C
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/nNBO777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
2.ProgramCost$7,100(2007)(coverstuition.allprogrammaterials,andsomemeals)Specialpricingavailabletocompaniesspons
RetirementforMarionMarionWhiteisduetoretirenextweekfromwell-knownlocallawfirmBarney&Francis,(29)...
RetirementforMarionMarionWhiteisduetoretirenextweekfromwell-knownlocallawfirmBarney&Francis,(29)...
RetirementforMarionMarionWhiteisduetoretirenextweekfromwell-knownlocallawfirmBarney&Francis,(29)...
RetirementforMarionMarionWhiteisduetoretirenextweekfromwell-knownlocallawfirmBarney&Francis,(29)...
RetirementforMarionMarionWhiteisduetoretirenextweekfromwell-knownlocallawfirmBarney&Francis,(29)...
Questions29-40•Readtheintroductionbelowaboutacompanytrainingprogramme.•Choosethecorrectwordtofilleachg
Questions29-40•Readtheintroductionbelowaboutacompanytrainingprogramme.•Choosethecorrectwordtofilleachg
Questions29-40•Readtheintroductionbelowaboutacompanytrainingprogramme.•Choosethecorrectwordtofilleachg
随机试题
甲公司拟加盟乙玩具连锁集团,乙集团对加盟企业采取不从零开始的加盟政策:将达到盈亏平衡条件的自营门店整体转让给符合条件的加盟商;加盟经营协议期5年,加盟时一次性支付120万元加盟费;加盟期内,每年按年营业额10%向乙集团支付特许经营使用费和广告费。甲
绿色电脑是指()电脑。
在各种会计核算形式中,共同的账务处理程序是()。
排列图中的C类因素是在()间的因素。
一般资料:求助者,男性,42岁,硕士研究生,公司高级管理人员。案例介绍:求助者经常要乘飞机,但对乘飞机非常害怕,尽量避免乘飞机,严重地影响了工作与生活。为此非常苦恼,主动前来咨询。下面是心理咨询师与该求助者之间的一段咨询对话:
作为互联网的衍生物,博客近年来以迅猛的姿态发展起来,在博客的诸多功用中,其传播功能日益凸显。相较传统新闻传播媒介,博客在及时、全面、包容和互动方面优势明显,对传统新闻媒介构成了强烈冲击。因此,传统新闻媒介更应在保持优势的基础上,积极面对,扬长避短,形成与博
根据所给图表,回答81~85题。图中SCI收录论文总数最少的年份是:
Turningoilrigsintoreefssavesmoneyandmarinelife.Yetmanygreensopposeit.Whenanoffshorewellstopsproducingoil
ShoppinghabitsintheUnitedStateshavechangedgreatlyinthelastquarterofthe20thcentury.【C1】______inthe1900smos
SurvivingInSpaceMotionsicknessafflictsmorethantwo-thirdsofallastronautsuponreachingorbit,evenveterantestpi
最新回复
(
0
)