President George W. Bush announced that Social Security reform is at the top of his second term agenda. In the coming months, there will be a spirited debate over proposals to transform one of the nation's most successful programs into a system of private investment accounts.

The Century Foundation has been one of the leading institutions in explaining how Social Security works, the challenges it confronts, and the strengths and weaknesses of various reform proposals. The Foundation has published easily understood books, reports, pamphlets, and issue briefs about Social Security and runs a revamped Web site specifically devoted to the subject at www.socsec.org.

Richard C. Leone, president of The Century Foundation, Greg Anrig, vice president for programs, and Bernard Wasow, senior fellow and economist, have written extensively about Social Security reform. They are available for interviews and backgrounders to help explain the complicated economic, social, and political issues involved in reforming Social Security. Their bios are listed below, along with a list of the foundation's recent publications on this critical issue.
For more information contact Christy Hicks at hicks@tcf.org or (212) 452-7723.

CENTURY FOUNDATION SOCIAL SECURITY EXPERTS

Richard C. Leone

Richard C. Leone is president of The Century Foundation, a public policy research foundation in New York and Washington, D.C. From 1988 to 1994, he was commissioner and chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. His other government experience includes service as state treasurer (chief financial officer) of New Jersey and executive director of a White House Task Force on the Cities. In the private sector, he was the President of the New York Mercantile Exchange, president of an oil trading firm, and managing director at Dillon Read & Co., Inc., an investment banking firm. He is a director of several public companies. His analytical and opinion pieces on public policy topics have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Foreign Affairs, The Nation, and other publications. He was coeditor of Social Security Reform: Beyond the Basics and The War on Our Freedoms. He is chairman of the board of the American Prospect, a director for the Center for American Progress, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He earned a Ph.D. and was a member of the faculty at Princeton University.

Greg Anrig, Jr.

Greg Anrig has been vice president of programs at The Century Foundation since 1994. In that role, he supervises the creation and progress of the Foundation's projects, which focus on U.S. policy related to economic and social inequality, the aging of the population, homeland security, and certain international issues. He is the coeditor of Social Security Reform: Beyond the Basics. He has written about social insurance, taxes, pensions, and the economy and he has made many media appearances regarding these issues. Before joining the Foundation, he was a staff writer and Washington correspondent for Money magazine. His areas of expertise are economics and inequality and retirement security.

Bernard Wasow

Bernard Wasow received his B.A. from Reed College and his Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University. In between, he spent a year as a DAAD Fellow at the Free University of Berlin. He has been a member of the Economics Departments at the University of British Columbia, the University of Nairobi (five years), New York University (20 years, tenured), and, as a visitor, at Columbia University, Monash University (Melbourne, Australia), and the Central European University (Prague, Czechoslovakia). He also has worked in the research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and as a program officer at the Ford Foundation. Besides teaching overseas he spent a year in Puerto Rico with the Committee to Study Puerto Rico's Finances and a year in Bangladesh with the Harvard Institute for International Development. He has participated in two World Bank missions to Kenya and two to Mongolia, the second of these as mission leader. His publications are in the fields of international economics and development. His areas of expertise are economics and inequality, retirement security, and international affairs.

RECENT CENTURY FOUNDATION PUBLICATIONS ON SOCIAL SECURITY

"Social Security Privatization: Eleven Myths"
The Century Foundation, 3/1/04
Examines eleven misconceptions about the privatization of Social Security and weighs them against the facts.

"Reducing Benefits and Subsidizing Individual Accounts: An Analysis of the Plans Proposed by the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security"
Peter A. Diamond, Peter R. Orszag, The Century Foundation, 6/15/02
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.

"Perspectives on the Draft Interim Report of the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security"
Henry J. Aaron, Peter R. Orszag, Alan S. Blinder, Alicia Munnell, The Century Foundation, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 7/23/01
Analysis of President Bush's Social Security reform commission's argument, as presented in its 2002 draft interim report, and concludes that the commission's materials contain a number of misleading statements and factual errors.

The Basics: Social Security Reform: 2002 Revised Edition
The Century Foundation, 6/15/02
Offers readers the best available facts, figures, and arguments about what is right with Social Security and what is wrong with it.

"What Would REALLY Happen Under Social Security Privatization? Part I: Solving a Problem by Creating a Bigger One"
Greg Anrig Jr., Bernard Wasow, The Century Foundation, 12/10/01
Diverting payroll taxes to private accounts would actually add a large additional financial burden to Social Security instead of alleviating the projected shortfall.

"What Would REALLY Happen Under Social Security Privatization? Part II: Millionaires One and All?"
Greg Anrig Jr., Bernard Wasow, The Century Foundation, 12/10/01
The returns on accounts touted by advocates of privatization are based on numerous false and misleading assumptions.

"What Would REALLY Happen Under Social Security Privatization? Part III: IRAs and 401(k)s You Can Not Control or Leave to Heirs"
Greg Anrig Jr., Bernard Wasow, The Century Foundation, 12/10/01
Claims of enhanced control and ownership for workers over their assets in Social Security privatization schemes are greatly exaggerated.

"What Would REALLY Happen Under Social Security Privatization? Part IV: Insecurity for the Disabled and Dependents of Workers"
Greg Anrig Jr., Bernard Wasow, The Century Foundation, 12/10/01
Current debates over the future of Social Security leave out the fact that many beneficiaries are not retired workers.

"Setting the Record Straight: Women and Social Security"
Bernard Wasow, The Century Foundation, 4/1/02
Women tend to depend on Social Security and spousal benefits longer and in greater proportion to their total retirement income than men do.

"Setting the Record Straight: Social Security Works for Latinos"
Bernard Wasow, The Century Foundation, 5/1/02
There is little difference in net Social Security benefits between Hispanic and non-Hispanic populations, contrary to suggestions that the program benefits ethnic groups unequally.

"Setting the Record Straight: Two False Claims about African Americans and Social Security"
Bernard Wasow, The Century Foundation, 3/1/02
This piece debunks privatization advocates' claims that African Americans lose out in the current system, and would stand to gain from private accounts.

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