Social Security Reform

Social Security plays a critical role in the lives of 48 million beneficiaries and 159 million covered workers and their families. With informed discussion, creative thinking, and timely legislative action, we can ensure that Social Security continues to protect future generations.

Under current law the cost of Social Security will soon begin to increase faster than the program's income, because of the aging of the baby-boom generation, expected continuing low fertility, and increasing life expectancy.

Government Reports | Further Analysis | News Articles

Government Reports / Resources

• Social Security Reform: Other Countries' Experiences Provide Lessons for the United States (October 2005)
  Congressional Budget Office
• Growing Real Ownership for Workers Act of 2005 (July 2005)
  Congressional Budget Office
• Private Pensions: Recent Experiences of Large Defined Benefit Plans Illustrate Weaknesses in Funding Rules (May 2005)
  Government Accountability Office
• 2005 Trustees Report
  Social Security Administration
• Website: Stregthening Social Security (Mar. 2005)
  U.S. Department of the Treasury
• Fact Sheet: Strengthening Social Security for Future Generations (Feb. 2005)
  White House
• Long Term Fiscal Issues: The Need for Social Security Reform (Feb.2005)
  Government Accountability Office
• Joint Economic Committee: Social Security Charts (Feb.2005)
  Joint Economic Committee
• Updated Long-Term Projections for Social Security (Jan.2005)
  Congressional Budget Office
• President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security
  White House
• 2004 Trustees Report
  Social Security Administration
• History of Social Security
  Social Security Administration
• Why Action Should Be Taken Soon
  Report of the Social Security Advisory Board
• The Outlook for Social Security (2004)
  Congressional Budget Office

Further Analysis

• Social Security Status Quo versus Reform: What's the Tradeoff?
  September 6, 2005
  The debate on Social Security reform has moved rapidly. Not too long ago, it was focused on whether the Social Security Trust Fund's holdings of Treasury obligations—now totaling $1.7 trillion—implies that future benefits are secure. Recent studies suggest that, for each dollar of payroll tax surpluses made available to the federal government, federal consumption spending increases by much more than a dollar and the emergence of Social Security surpluses may have reduced, rather than increased, net domestic saving and investment. Because that implies smaller aggregate output and a smaller tax base, using the trust fund to pay future benefits will require higher non–Social Security taxes or deeper cuts in non–Social Security spending.
• AmeriSave
  August 1, 2005
  On July 26, Democratic members of Congress introduced a retirement security plan that promises to foster savings among middle- and working-class individuals.  The plan has no proposals regarding Social Security, or its solvency.
• Beyond Just Social Security: The Need To Fix Our Pension System
  David C. John
  July 12, 2005
  While Social Security has received the most attention, recent developments emphasize the need for a comprehensive approach to pensions that expands opportunities to save for retirement and strengthens defined benefits plans. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), which insures defined benefit pension plans, faces potential deficits of hundreds of billions of dollars that may require a government bailout.
• A New Approach to Personal Social Security Accounts
  Alex J. Pollock
  March 29, 2005
  Personal retirement accounts with a structure using inflation-indexed Treasury bonds would deliver the benefits of personal accounts without the risks or costs often cited by critics of such accounts and could transform Social Security.
• What If the Baby Boomers Had Personal Retirement Accounts? An Analysis of Retirement Security for Americans Age 40–58
  Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.
  February 10, 2005 (Center for Data Analysis Report #05-02)
  If Social Security personal retirement accounts had been available to baby boomers, they would have substantially increased the baby boomers' net worth, especially among low-wealth ...
• Borrowing from Future Social Security Benefits: The Administration's Proposal for Individual Accounts
  Peter Orszag
  February 9, 2005
  Recently, the Bush Administration released some details about its proposal to replace part of Social Security with individual accounts. Under the Administration's plan, payroll taxes deposited into an individual account are essentially a loan from the government to the worker.
• Testimony on Budgetary Perspectives on the Outlook for Social Security
  Congressional Budget Office
  February 9, 2005
• Testimony on the Future of Social Security
  Congressional Budget Office
  February 3, 2005
• Testimony on Alternative Perspectives on Social Security
  Congressional Budget Office
  February 2, 2005
• PRA Basics: How the President's Plan Prevents Unfair Double-Dipping
  David C. John
  February 5, 2005 (WebMemo #654)
  A simple mechanism to ensure that retirees get their fair returns.
• PRA Basics: Locking in Earnings with Lifespan Accounts
  David C. John
  February 4, 2005 (WebMemo #653)
  Accounts that automatically rebalance will provide those near retirement with security.
• Social Security Reform: National Savings and Macroeconomic Performance in the Global Economy
  N Gregory Mankiw, Jan. 18, 2004
• Providing Social Security Benefits in the Future: A Review of the Social Security System and Plans to Reform It (2004)
  David C. John
  Most summaries and studies examine Social Security reform from the viewpoint of federal budget impact, tax rates, and the survivability of the system, but few ...
• Banking on Social Security
  McKinsey Study
  Private Social Security accounts will challenge financial institutions, but the opportunity is huge - and may be replicable.

News Articles

• Democrats Offer Savinfs Plan for Workers; Social Security Would be Untouched
  Alex Wayne
  CQ Today, July 27, 2005
  Republicnas say minority party ignores most important retirement program, warn hidden increase is inevitable.
• Greenspan Urges Caution on Social Security Overhaul
  David Stout
  New York Times, February 16, 2005
  The Fed chairman backed private accounts within Social Security, but also favored a slower approach than the president.
• In Montana, Bush Faces a Tough Sell on Social Security
  Robin Toner
  New York Times, February 6, 2005, A12
  Senator Max Baucus, who backed changes in Medicare, told people Friday in Billings, Mont., why he opposed the president's Social Security plan.
• Figuring a Social Security Benefit Under Bush's Plan
  By Eduardo Porter
  New York Times, February 6, 2005, A12
  In presenting its plan to let working Americans divert part of their payroll taxes into private retirement accounts, the Bush administration now says the proposal will do nothing to solve Social Security's financial problems.
• The Economic Agenda
  N. Gregory Mankiw
  The Economists' Voice, 1, 2004
• Social Security Formula Weighed
  Jonathan Weisman and Mike Allen
  Washington Post, January 04, 2005, A01
  The Bush administration has signaled that it will propose changing the formula that sets initial Social Security benefit levels, cutting promised benefits.

Questions? Please contact Doug Johnson, (202) 663-5059 for more information.