UC Berkeley Web Feature
Rx for Social Security
UC Berkeley experts diagnose the problem, suggest remedies for ailing retirement savings system
The
nation's Social Security program
is at the center of a national
debate, thrust into the spotlight
by President Bush's announcement
that reforming the system is
a primary goal for his second
term. Several UC
Berkeley professors are experts
on various aspects of this sweeping
debate, including the health
of the Social Security system,
the risks and benefits of privatization
and how proposed changes would
affect certain segments of our
society.
Alan Auerbach
Robert D. Burch Professor of Economics and Law and director of UC Berkeley’s Burch Center on Tax Policy and Public Finance
Q&A: Should we let people fend for themselves?
Professor Auerbach assesses the health of the Social Security system, the risks, benefits and motivations behind privatization, and assesses who would win and who would lose in a privatized system. More >
Video clips:
"I think the crisis that the federal government faces is large, but Social Security is only a small part of it."
The risks of privatizing Social Security.
The "ownership society" may not translate well to retirement savings for the financially unsophisticated.
Ronald Lee
Professor of economics and demography, and director of UC Berkeley's Center for the Demography and Economics of Aging
Q&A: Demography of Social Security's problem 'is not overwhelming'
Professor Lee challenges critics who say the size
of the looming Social Security deficit is being
exaggerated, and compares the dimensions of the
Social Security problem to other challenges facing
the country and to similar retirement programs
in other industrialized nations. More >
Video clips:
"Infinite horizon": Why 75 years isn't long enough to assess Social Security's viability
Curing Social Security through immigration: "The difficulty is that immigrants eventually grow old ... and they become costly themselves."
Global challenge of retirement savings: "The U.S. problem is really quite small relative to the typical problem in the industrial world"
Daniel McFadden
2000 Nobel Laureate in Economics and E. Morris Cox Professor of Economics
Q&A: Some people are going to choose badly; then what?
Professor McFadden looks at the plusses and minuses of private accounts, the likely impact on elderly Americans, and the politics behind the debate. More >
Video clips:
Private accounts "should be in addition to the current system, not a replacement for it."
How private accounts should be set up: Increase individual cntributions, and manage the funds through competitive bidding
"I think the risk of Social Security not being there [for today's young people] is primarily a political risk, not really an economic risk."
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