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Private Accounts Would Substantially Increase Federal Debt and Interest Payments
James Horney, Richard Kogan, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 8/2/2005
All of the major proposals to replace a portion of Social Security with private accounts would require large increases in federal borrowing for many decades.
Link to Report (PDF)
Would Private Accounts Provide a Higher Rate of Return than Social Security?
Jason Furman, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 6/2/2005
Comparing returns on investment accounts with the benefits provided by Social Security is unsound and misleading.
Link to the Report (PDF)
Asset Returns and Economic Growth
Paul Krugman, Dean Baker, J. Bradford DeLong, Center for Economic and Policy Research, National Bureau of Economic Relations, 3/24/2005
The key question in economic policy debates is whether historical rates of return—especially the 6.5% or so average real realized rate of return on equities—are likely to persist into the future.
Link to Paper (PDF)
Privatization's Poor Return
Christian Weller, Center for American Progress, 3/4/2005
Much of the Social Security privatization debate focuses on the rate of return of private accounts.
Link to Article
Bush's House of Cards: The Privatization Fraud
Various Authors, The American Prospect, 2/10/2005
A special issue on the drive to privatize Social Security, cosponsored by The Century Foundation, EPI and the Campaign for America's Future, with articles from Paul Starr, Robert Kuttner, Dean Baker, Henry Aaron, and many others.
Link to Issue
Social Security Privatization: The Retirement Savings Gamble
Christian Weller, Center for American Progress, 2/10/2005
These numbers show that privatization amounts to a retirement savings gamble, where the winnings are unevenly distributed. Some generations will do poorly, while others could do fine.
Link to Report
An Overview of Issues Raised by the Administration's Social Security Plan
Jason Furman, Robert Greenstein, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2/7/2005
White House officials acknowledge that private accounts themselves do nothing to restore solvency.
Link to Report
How the Individual Accounts in the President's New Plan Would Work
Jason Furman, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2/4/2005
The automatic benefit reduction in the President's plan would constitute a 100 percent tax on the retirement savings in those accounts.
Link to Report
Yikes! How to Think About Risk?
Alicia Munnell, Mauricio Soto, Steven A. Sass, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, 1/1/2005
Why evaluations of Social Security privatization proposals should take into account greater investment risk.
Link to Issue Brief (PDF)
Twelve Reasons Why Privatizing Social Security is a Bad Idea
Greg Anrig, Bernard Wasow, The Century Foundation, 12/14/2004
Why less costly and less painful reforms to Social Security should be considered instead of the privatization plans the President is currently considering.
Download in PDF format
The No Economist/Policy Analyst Left Behind Test for Social Security
Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research, 11/12/2004
A projected 6.5 percent return on stocks over the next 75 years is inconsistent with the projections used by the Social Security trustees.
Link to Brief
The Fees of Private Accounts and the Impact of Social Security Privatization on Financial Managers
Austan Goolsbee, University of Chicago, 9/1/2004
Realistic fees on private accounts under the Commission's plan would severely reduce account balances and transfer billions to financial managers.
Link to Report (PDF)
Long-Term Analysis of Plan 2 of the President’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security
Congressional Budget Office, 7/21/2004
An in-depth analysis of the frequently cited plan, with estimates of how it would affect the program's finances and future benefit levels.
Link to Report (PDF)
Reducing Benefits and Subsidizing Individual Accounts
Peter A. Diamond, Peter R. Orszag, The Century Foundation, 6/15/2002
An analysis of the plans proposed by the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security. A white paper cosponsored by The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Download in PDF format
Estimates of Financial Effects for Three Models Developed by the President's Commission
Stephen C. Goss, Alice H. Wade, Social Security Administration, 1/31/2002
Official estimate of the Commission's models from the office of the chief actuary of the Social Security program.
Link to Memo
Saving Social Security with Stocks
Dean Baker, The Century Foundation, 2/1/1997
Privatization proposals in the January 1997 report of the Advisory Council on Social Security are based on highly unrealistic claims. A Century Foundation white paper.
Download in PDF format



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