Fixing Social Security (eBook)

The Politics of Reform in a Polarized Age

R. Douglas Arnold (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2022
328 Seiten
Princeton University Press (Verlag)
978-0-691-22444-2 (ISBN)

Infos

How Social Security has shaped American politics-and why it faces insolvencySince its establishment, Social Security has become the financial linchpin of American retirement. Yet demographic trends-longer lifespans and declining birthrates-mean that this popular program now pays more in benefits than it collects in revenue. Without reforms, 83 million Americans will face an immediate benefit cut of 20 percent in 2034. How did we get here and what is the solution? In Fixing Social Security, R. Douglas Arnold explores the historical role that Social Security has played in American politics, why Congress has done nothing to fix its insolvency problem for three decades, and what legislators can do to save it.What options do legislators have as the program nears the precipice? They can raise taxes, as they did in 1977, cut benefits, as they did in 1983, or reinvent the program, as they attempted in 2005. Unfortunately, every option would impose costs, and legislators are reluctant to act, fearing electoral retribution. Arnold investigates why politicians designed the system as they did and how between 1935 and 1983 they allocated-and reallocated-costs and benefits among workers, employers, and beneficiaries. He also examines public support for the program, and why Democratic and Republican representatives, once political allies in expanding Social Security, have become so deeply polarized about fixing it.As Social Security edges closer to crisis, Fixing Social Security offers a comprehensive analysis of the political fault lines and a fresh look at what can be done-before it is too late.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 12.4.2022
• Zusatzinfo: 40 b/w illus. 16 tables.
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Recht / Steuern ► Arbeits- / Sozialrecht ► Sozialrecht
• Themenwelt: Recht / Steuern ► EU / Internationales Recht
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Politische Theorie
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Staat / Verwaltung
• Schlagworte: Ability to pay • Actuarial Balance • Actuarial Deficit • Actuary • Advocacy • Affirmative Action • Aid • Air Conditioning • Amendment • Amplitude • And Interest • asset • Authorization bill • awareness • Baby boomers • bank failure • beneficiary • Beneficiary (trust) • Bipartisan Policy Center • Budget • Budget resolution • Bush Brothers and Company • Calculation • candidate • Career • Cartesian coordinate system • Case study • Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services • Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code • Chapter 9 • Clean Air Act (United States) • Committee • Compton wavelength • Congressional Research Service • Consideration • Constant term • consumer • Consumer Price Index • Consumption (Economics) • Corporate Governance • Cost Estimate • Deficit Spending • Designer • Determinant • Disability • Disability benefits • disadvantage • Donor • Down quark • Drinking Water • Early Withdrawal • Economic equilibrium • Economics • economy • Edward Gramlich • Einstein–Hilbert action • electricity • Electromagnetic field • Employment • environmental movement • environmental protection • Equation • Equations of motion • estimation • Expenditure • Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax • fertility • Financial Market • fireside chats • Forecasting • Francis Townsend • Funding • Gainful Employment • Gauge Theory • General relativity • Generosity • G.I. Bill • government revenue • Government shutdown in the United States • gradualism • Gross Domestic Product • hearth • hilbert space • Homeland Security • Household • Household Expenses • Ideology • Immigration • income • income distribution • Income Tax • Income tax in the United States • incumbent • Independent contractor • Individual Retirement Account • Infant • Inflation • Insolvency • Institution • Interest Rate • Internal Revenue Service • Interview • Investment • Investment Fund • investment income • John Boehner • karl rove • Keogh Plan • Legacy debt • Legislation • Legislator • Life Expectancy • Longevity • magnetostatics • majority • Manufacturing • Mario Cuomo • mass–energy equivalence • mass movement • Maximum life span • Medicare Part B • Metric tensor (general relativity) • Midterm election • Modern convenience • Momentum operator • multivariate analysis • National Association of Manufacturers • National Rifle Association • New Course • News conference • Nuclear family • Office of Management and Budget • Old age • Optical fiber • Otto Kerner Jr. • Path length • Payment • Payroll tax • Pension • pension fund • percentage • personal account • physicist • Point particle • Policy • Policy Advocacy • Political Campaign • Politician • Politics • Pooling (resource management) • Population Growth • Poverty • Prediction • prescription drug • price change • Price index • private sector • Privatization • Provision (accounting) • Proximate cause • Quantity • Quartile • Racism • Radio Broadcasting • Rate of return • real number • Recession • Representative Democracy • Reproductive rights • Requirement • result • Retirement • Retirement age • Revenue • Revenue stream • running mate • S&P 500 Index • saving • Scalar Field • Severity (video game) • Sexism • shortage • shortfall • Social Insurance • Social Security Act • Social Security Administration • social security benefits • Social Security System (Philippines) • solvency • Special relativity • Spinor field • spouse • Standard deduction • Stock Market • Subsidy • supermajority • Supply (economics) • Tax • Taxable Wage Base • Tax break • Tax Cut • Tax exemption • Tax Incidence • Taxis • Taxpayer • Tax Rate • tax revenue • Technology • Tensor • theory • Thomas precession • time derivative • Tom Daschle • Total revenue • Total Tax • Transverse Mode • Trend line (technical analysis) • Uncertainty • Unemployment • vector potential • Voting • Voting methods in deliberative assemblies • wage • Wave Packet • ways and means committee • welfare • Writing
• ISBN-10: 0-691-22444-7 / 0691224447
• ISBN-13: 978-0-691-22444-2 / 9780691224442