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
57
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
The deterioration financial condition referred to was caused by______.
选项
A、a poor economic approach to the Social Security retirement program
B、the reform of welfare in the Social Security retirement program
C、major policy changes in the Social Security retirement program
D、government debt in the Social Security retirement program
答案
A
解析
文章指出,当国会和行政当局考虑如何改革社会福利,医疗保险,医疗补助,以及所得税时,但政府官员仍不愿面对社会保障体系里存在的问题,并因此导致了财政状况恶化。第一段At a timewhen the Congress and the Administration are considering ways to reform welfare,Medicare,Medi-caid,and the income tax,elected officials are still unwilling to confront the serious problems of ourSocial Security system.
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.kaotiyun.com/show/dy9O777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
Therangeinfrequenciesofmusicalsoundsisapproximately20-20,000cyclespersecond(cy/sec).Somepeoplecanhearhigherfr
Thewarwasthemostpeacefulperiodofmylife.Thewindowofmybedroomfacedsoutheast.Mymotherhadcurtainedit,butthat
Thewarwasthemostpeacefulperiodofmylife.Thewindowofmybedroomfacedsoutheast.Mymotherhadcurtainedit,butthat
Thejuryreturneda(n)______of"notguilty".
A【51】offoreignwordsstilllooklikeforeignwords;thereareoftenexpressionswhich【52】originallyusedbypeoplewhowantedt
(Despite)thissimilaritywith(other)creatures,theevolutionofhumankinddiffersfrom(otherspecies)in(one)importantand
CrossingWesleyanUniversity’scampususuallyrequireswalkingovercolorfulmessageschalkedontheground.Theycanbeasinno
CrossingWesleyanUniversity’scampususuallyrequireswalkingovercolorfulmessageschalkedontheground.Theycanbeasinno
Certainlynocreatureintheseaisodderthanthecommonseacucumber.Alllivingcreatures,especiallyhumanbeings,havethei
随机试题
Policeofficerscaughtthe——outsideashoppingcenterontheafternoonofMarch14th.
0
甲、乙签订买卖合同,约定乙的债务由丙直接向甲履行。现履行期已至,丙拒绝履行。甲有权要求
男性,50岁。左下颌第二磨牙残冠,局部无炎症,拟行拔除。如拔牙时发生断根,位置较低.根挺应置于
甲公司委托乙公司设计并制作产品包装盒,未签订书面合同。丙在市场上发现该产品包装盒上未经其许可使用了其画《翠竹》作为背景图案。如果该产品包装盒的整体设计也构成美术图案,下列哪些选项是正确的?(2007年试卷三第58题)
土方开挖的开挖方式包括()。
计算土地增值税的增值额时,可扣除的开发成本和开发费用为( )万元。计算土地增值税的增值额时,可扣除的税费和加计扣除费用为( )万元。
普通股股东按其所持有股份比例享有的基本权利包括()。
负强化就是惩罚。
有“明清古建筑博物馆”之称的三坊七巷街区,有人将其比喻为鱼骨与鱼刺,有人则形容为菩提树叶,或直呼为“非"字形。笔者觉得,它倒更像一片优美的棕榈树叶,南后街似叶片的主脉,向西伸出的三条支脉为三坊,向东生出的七条细脉是七巷。由北向南的三坊依次为衣锦坊、光禄坊、
最新回复
(
0
)