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Home  >  Publications  > 
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Building Automatic Solvency into U.S. Social Security
Insights from Sweden and Germany
By James C. Capretta
Posted: Tuesday, August 1, 2006


POLITICAL ECONOMY
The Brookings Institution  
Publication Date: March 1, 2006

**View the complete article as a pdf file by clicking on the link above.**

Although Social Security reform appears to be off of the national agenda for now, real funding problems remain for America’s popular retirement program that policymakers need to address. The payroll taxes that support Social Security's "pay–as-you-go" system will begin to fall short of outlays in 2017 and will be sufficient to finance only 74 percent of scheduled annual benefits by 2041, when the Social Security trust fund is projected to be exhausted.

In recent years, both Germany and Sweden have been able to put in place innovative approaches to solving pressing financial crises in their pay-as-you-go pension systems. Sweden's experience suggests that U.S. policymakers consider setting the retirement age administratively, as determined by up-to-date life span data. And Germany's move to calculate retirement benefits partly on the basis of a "sustainability factor" is moderating the costs of demographic shifts which would otherwise push the system toward unaffordable levels of taxation.

Ideally, U.S. policymakers will reach a consensus on Social Security solvency reforms. Sweden and Germany have shown that it is possible and desirable to put in place provisions that can automatically self-correct underfunding of pay-as-you-go pension systems. The U.S. should put in place such provisions for Social Security, ensuring permanent solvency for the program.

**To continue reading this article as a pdf file please click on the link above.**

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EPPC on Book TV
Weigel Featured on "In Depth"

On Sunday, June 1, EPPC Distinguished Senior Fellow George Weigel was featured on C-SPAN2/Book TV's program "In Depth."

Click here to view the program online.   


Religion and the Media
Michael Cromartie
Faith Angle Conference -- December 2008

EPPC Vice President Michael Cromartie moderated a series of discussions in December at the semi-annual Faith Angle Conference sponsored by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and held in Key West, Florida. Transcripts of the informative talks are now available online.

 Religion and Race: A Historical and Contemporary Perspective -- Eddie S.Glaude Jr., author of In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America, discussed religion and race in America.

 A Post-Election Look at Religious Voters in the 2008 Election -- John Green, a senior fellow in religion and American politics at the Pew Forum, discussed how a small change overall in voting behavior among religious groups had a big impact at the ballot box.

 America and Islam After Bush  -- Vali Nasr, author of the 2006 book, The Shia Revival, surveyed the geo-political landscape of today's Middle East.