Kategoria BISAC: Political Science >> Public Policy - Social Security

During the depression of the 1930s, both the United States and New Zealand passed a Social Security Act. Both countries were developed nations of the "new world," and each statute was an omnibus measure aimed at protecting citizens from the poverty so visible at the time. The two acts, however, were very different. The New Zealand measure was absolute, promising everyone medical care and a reasonable income in every circumstance. It redistributed income downward. The U.S. act addressed only a handful of risks, and each of its two main programs covered less than half of the population. Its...

Blahous contends that Social Security is ill-equipped to withstand the effects of an aging population and will impose excessive tax burdens upon future Americans unless its course is changed. Far from a doomsday tract, however, the book provides instances of proposals that would satisfactorily avert this course, if only the political will is mustered to implement them. Blahous argues for the program developed by the National Commission on Retirement Policy, but also offers positive descriptions of plausible alternatives as well as unsparing criticism of those who would cook the books in...

Will the Social Security system founder as millions of baby boomers enter their retirement years? Is the frightening vision of an impoverished old age a glimpse into the real future for Americans of the next generation? The authors of this book put debates about Social Security reform into historical perspective, consider various reform ideas, and elaborate a proposal to ensure that the system can continue to meet the claims of the retired and the disabled. Sylvester J. Schieber and John B. Shoven, leading experts on retirement issues, set forth a carefully considered plan to change the...

Social insurance in the United States--including the Social Security Act of 1935 and the Medicare, Medicaid, and disability insurance programs that were added later--may be the greatest triumph of American domestic policy. But true security has not been achieved. As Michael J. Graetz and Jerry L. Mashaw show in this pathbreaking book, the nation's system of social insurance is riddled with gaps, inefficiencies, and inequities. Even the most popular and successful programs, Medicare and Social Security, face serious financial challenges from the coming retirement of the baby boom generation...