The Role of Economic Policy in Social Security Reform: Perspectives from the President's Commission

37 Pages Posted: 15 Sep 2002 Last revised: 20 Jul 2022

See all articles by John F. Cogan

John F. Cogan

Stanford University - The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Olivia S. Mitchell

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School; University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School, Pension Research Council; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Date Written: September 2002

Abstract

Recently we were asked to serve on the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security (CSSS) along with 14 other members drawn equally from both major political parties. The Commission's charge was to provide recommendations to modernize the Social Security system, restore its fiscal soundness, and develop a workable system of Personal Retirement Accounts. This paper explains how the Commission arrived at some of its recommendations and the role that economics played in contributing to these recommendations. We describe the key institutional constraints confronting efforts to reform Social Security and how these constraints influenced Commission decisions. We also illustrate how economics research influenced the Commission's analysis of how to structure personal accounts, ways to enhance traditional Social Security program finances, and means of measuring the extent of financial progress achieved through reform.

Suggested Citation

Cogan, John F. and Mitchell, Olivia S., The Role of Economic Policy in Social Security Reform: Perspectives from the President's Commission (September 2002). NBER Working Paper No. w9166, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=331020

John F. Cogan

Stanford University - The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace ( email )

HHMB Rm 347
Stanford, CA 94305
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(650) 723-2585 (Phone)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Cambridge, MA 02138
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Olivia S. Mitchell (Contact Author)

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School ( email )

Philadelphia, PA 19104-6365
United States

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School, Pension Research Council ( email )

3302 Steinberg Hall-Dietrich Hall
3620 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6302
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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