Retirement Security Program

At a conference devoted to “big ideas” for the nation’s future, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said this morning that compromise need to be “a goal – not a dirty word” in politics and government, remarks that reflect her own pragmatic style but that are more moderate than the views of some of her rivals and hard-core elements of the Democratic primary electorate.With some of her 2008 presidential opponents offering sharply partisan messages, and another of them, Senator Barack… more

As Vice President of the New America Foundation, Michael Calabrese directs the Spectrum Policy Program, co-directs the Retirement Security Program, and helps guide the Foundation’s work to reform and expand our nation’s health care coverage. Previously, Mr. Calabrese served as Director of Domestic Policy Programs at the Center for National… more

As the House-Senate conference takes up the pension funding and reform bill this month, the conversation about how best to update the nation's retirement saving system is far from over.

The pending pension bill may achieve some important improvements, but it does little to address the fact that American workers are clearly not saving enough: A majority of the workforce does not participate in an employer-sponsored plan, an increasing number of large companies are freezing their traditional pension… more

The three of us -- former aides to President Clinton, Senator McCain, and President Bush -- did an experiment to see if we could develop a reform plan that we could all support. The Liebman-MacGuineas-Samwick (LMS) plan demonstrates the types of compromises that can help policy makers from across the political spectrum agree on a Social Security reform plan. The plan achieves sustainable solvency through progressive changes to taxes and benefits, introduces mandatory personal accounts, and specifies important details that… more

If somebody owes you $10, the next best thing to having the cash itself is probably having a written IOU. After all, the IOU will make it harder to forget the liability, and also might give you evidence to use in court should the borrower attempt to shortchange you.

The Social Security system is loaded with a confusing mishmash of IOUs, both implicit and explicit. Reforms tend to rearrange the liabilities in this crazy quilt. Do the labels on the IOUs… more

The world today is very different than when Social Security was created. A number of issues should be considered when thinking about how to reform Social Security, including:

Should we update benefits to reflect changes in family status and economic well-being of the elderly?

Can our children really afford to finance our spending such a large portion of our life in retirement?

Should Social Security reform be used to help strengthen the economy through increased work and saving?

How should we think about Social… more

The debate about how to reform Social Security has been dominated by the fight over whether to create individual accounts and whether or not the system faces a "crisis." The central issue, what policy changes to make to address the system's long-term deficits, has been all but ignored. An esteemed group of experts will discuss many of the various options to fix Social Security, with no mention of accounts.

The discussion over how to fix Social Security is filled with words that are getting too much attention. Privatization is one. Focus groups apparently don't like that word, and supporters of private accounts have taken to using the words "personal accounts." Why get so hung up on what you call it? The issue is whether individual ownership of Social Security savings is a good idea or not.

Crisis is another. Crisis is a relative term so there is no right… more

Companies considering new product launches often try out different beta versions of their products on focus groups. The practice is a sound one. No matter how attractive a concept may be, there is no telling whether you have a winner until it takes the form that the customer will see.

With such a process in mind, it is useful to pause for a moment to consider the practical appearance of the product that Social Security reformers are advocating. If optional… more

Summary of Remarks

The second panel of the Real State of the Union, "Rethinking Domestic Policy" was moderated by Morton Mondracke, executive editor of Roll Call. The discussion focused on fundamental problems at the core of American domestic policy, including asset management, health care, and improving standards for all Americans.

Ray Boshara, Director of New America's Asset Building Program, led off the discussion by focusing on the "ownership society." Mr. Boshara defined the current economic social status in the United States as… more