Social Security: What Role for the Future? (Conference of the National Academy of Social Insurance)

466 Pages·1996·2.04 MB·English

by  Peter A. Diamond

title: Social Security : What Role for the Future?
author: Diamond, Peter A.
publisher: Brookings Institution Press
isbn10 | asin: 0815718357
print isbn13: 9780815718352
ebook isbn13: 9780585323435
language: English
subject Social security--United States.
publication date: 1996
lcc: HD7125.S5996 1996eb
ddc: 368.4/3/00973
subject: Social security--United States.
Page i
Social Security
What Role for the Future?
Edited by Peter A. Diamond
David C. Lindeman
Howard Young
Page ii
Copyright © 1996
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SOCIAL INSURANCE
1776 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036
Distributed worldwide by THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION
1775 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-2188,
U.S.A.
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Social security : what role for the future? / Peter Diamond,
David C. Lindeman, Howard Young, eds.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8157-1835-7 (pbk.)
1. Social security United States. I. Diamond, Peter A.
II. Lindeman, David C., 1944 . III. Young, Howard, 1932 .
HD7125.S5996 1996 95-41812
368.4'3'00973 dc20 CIP
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Typeset in Times Roman
Composition by Alpha Technologies/mps, Inc.
Charlotte Hall, Maryland
Printed by R. R. Donnelley and Sons Co.
Harrisonburg, Virginia
Page iii
Acknowledgments
The National Academy of Social Insurance is a nonprofit, nonpartisan
organization devoted to furthering knowledge and understanding of
Social Security and related programs. The Academy provides a forum
in which to explore challenges and opportunities facing the field of
social insurance; assesses social insurance programs and their
relationships to other public and private programs; helps develop
future scholars and administrative leaders; supports basic study, policy
analysis, and research; and promotes public understanding of social
insurance principles and programs.
This book is based primarily on papers delivered at the seventh annual
conference of the Academy.1 The conference, "Social Security: What
Role for the Future?," was held on January 2526, 1995, in
Washington. Sessions and speakers took a fresh look at questions that
are key to understanding the future of the cash benefits portion of old-
age protection under Social Security.
As with all activities organized under its auspices, the Academy takes
responsibility for assuring the independence of this book. Participants
in the conference were chosen for their recognized expertise and with
due consideration of the balance of disciplines appropriate to the
program. The resulting chapters represent the views of those who
presented the papers and are not necessarily the views of the officers,
board, staff, or members of the Academy.
We would like to thank all the conference participants for sparking a
lively discussion of ideas and the Academy staff for making the
conference run as smoothly as it did. We also appreciate the efforts of
all the people who have made this book possible: the authors for their
timely attention to the huge task
1. The exceptions are the introduction by David C. Lindeman, which was
produced after the conference; the commentary in chapter 6 by Peter
Diamond, which is a revised version of a longer paper that appeared in
Revista de Analysis Económico, no. 9, 2134, 1994; and chapter 7 by Peter
Diamond, which is a revised version of the Nemmers Prize lecture
delivered at Northwestern University on April 19, 1995.
Page iv
of turning their presentations into chapters; Nick Curraba, the student
intern who collected the chapters and worked with the authors; the
managing editor at the Brookings Institution, Deborah Styles, and the
Brookings editors, Tanjam Jacobson and Steph Selice; and the
Academy staff, especially Pamela J. Larson and Terry T. Nixon, who
saw the project through to completion.
PETER A. DIAMOND
DAVID C. LINDEMAN
HOWARD YOUNG
Page v
Contents
Introduction 1
David C. Lindeman
1
Social Security and Retirees: Two Views of the
Projections 21
Robert L. Brown 21
Diane J. Macunovich 43
Comment by Stephen C. Goss 67
Comment by Sylvester J. Schieber 78
2
Fund Accumulation: How Much? How Managed? 89
Barry P. Bosworth
Comment by Carolyn L. Weaver 115
Comment by David W. Mullins Jr. 120
3
Reexamining the Three-Legged Stool 125
David M. Cutler
Comment by Edward Gramlich 149
Comment by Margaret Simms 153
Comment by Howard Young 154

Page vi
4
Social Security Income and Taxation: Four Views On the
Role of Means Testing 157
Robert H. Binstock 157
Martha Phillips 163
C. Eugene Steuerle 167
Gary Burtless 172
5
Social Security around the World 181
Estelle James
Comment by Alicia H. Munnell 197
Comment by Dalmer Hoskins 198
Comment by Robert P. Hagemann 201
Comment by Jagadeesh Gokhale 204
6
Social Security Reform in Chile: Two Views 209
Robert J. Myers 209
Peter A. Diamond 213
7
The Future of Social Security 225
Peter A. Diamond