On August 2, the Social Security Administration released the latest issue of the Social Security Bulletin. Articles focus on the 75th anniversary of the Social Security program.
On July 30, the International Monetary Fund released a paper arguing that current measures of public sector indebtedness greatly understate true indebtedness because they do not incorporate implicit debts in the form of promises made to the elderly. Looking at Europe, where the population is aging rapidly, the paper finds that public indebtedness is far worse than it appears, but also that small but permanent improvements in the government’s primary balance can have a powerful long term effect due to compounding.
On July 29, Gallup released a poll on options for putting Social Security on a sustainable basis. Support was strongest for raising taxes and reducing benefits for the wealthy.
On July 28, the Population Reference Bureau released data on the changing distribution and demographics of the world population. Birth rates in advanced countries continue to fall, putting financial pressure on programs that aid the elderly, while population growth in developing countries continues to rise, exacerbating poverty and environmental degradation.
On July 22, the Congressional Budget Office released a review of the Social Security disability program. It predicts exhaustion of the DI trust fund in 2018.
On July 21, Brookings Institution economist Alice Rivlin published a commentary explaining why Social Security reform should be a high priority even though its financial problems are not imminent. It would reassure future retirees, demonstrate that our political system can still fix important problems, and pave the way for Medicare reform. Raising the retirement age would help both programs, she says.
A July 20 Gallup poll found that 60 percent of today’s workers believe that the Social Security system will pay them nothing when they retire.
On July 19, the National Institutes of Health released a report on key indicators of the health and well-being of older Americans.
On July 15, the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on Social Security after 75 years.
Also on July 15, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on encouraging older workers to stay in the labor force. Stephen Goss, chief actuary of the Social Security Administration, testified that the labor force participation rate for men over age 65 has fallen by more than half since 1950.
Bruce Bartlett is an American historian and columnist who focuses on the intersection between politics and economics. He blogs daily and writes a weekly column at The Fiscal Times. Read his most recent column here. Bartlett has written for Forbes Magazine and Creators Syndicate, and his work is informed by many years in government, including as a senior policy analyst in the Reagan White House. He is the author of seven books including the New York Times best-seller, Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy (Doubleday, 2006).