Search Results
Journal Article
The baby boomers' mega-inheritance-myth or reality?
Retirees are one of the wealthiest segments of the U.S. population, and today's retirees have more wealth than any previous generation. Some have conjectured that bequests out of this wealth will significantly boost the resources of the baby boomers-the next generation of retirees-bridging the gap between their retirement needs and resources. This Economic Commentary argues against such a view and explains why boomers have no alternative but to save for their own retirement.
Journal Article
Generational equity and sustainability in U.S. fiscal policy
If U.S. spending goes as projected, future generations will give up almost half their lifetime labor income to balance the government's books. After showing that current policy is not sustainable, this article reports the size and timing of the changes necessary to make it so.
Working Paper
Does participating in a 401(k) raise your lifetime taxes?
Contributing to 401(k)-type plans lowers current taxes, but does it lower lifetime taxes? If tax rates were independent of income and remained constant through time, the answer would be an unambiguous ?yes.? But tax rates may be higher when retirement account withdrawals occur, either because one moves into higher marginal tax brackets or because the government raises tax rates. Moreover, reducing tax brackets when young in exchange for higher tax brackets when old renders mortgage deductions less valuable. Most importantly, shifting taxable income from youth to old age can substantially ...
Working Paper
Demographic change, generational accounts, and national saving in the United States
An investigation of how alternative population projections affect measurement of the intergenerational imbalance in the distribution of resources and an analysis of the impact of demographic change on U.S. national saving.
Journal Article
Social Security: are we getting our money's worth?
An examination of Social Security from an individual investment perspective, showing that continued delays in addressing the program's shortcomings will only increase the intergenerational inequities that now exist.
Working Paper
Generational accounts: a meaningful alternative to deficit accounting
A presentation of a set of generational accounts that can be used as an alternative to the federal budget deficit in assessing intergenerational policy, concluding that the fiscal burdens on future generations will be significantly larger than those on existing generations if current tax policy remains unchanged.
Working Paper
Simulating the transmission of wealth inequality via bequests
Answering the question of how much wealth inequality arises from inheritance inequality requires data that are unavailable and potentially uncollectable. The alternative approach taken here (from Blinder [1974, 1976] and Davies [1982]) is to simulate the transmission of inequality via bequests.
Working Paper
The burden of German unification: a generational accounting approach
An assessment of the generational stance of postunification German fiscal policy and an estimate of the burden of unification-related fiscal measures on West German generations, finding that future generations will bear much larger lifetime net tax burdens than current newborns.
Journal Article
What fiscal surplus?
Proposals to shore up Social Security using future budget surpluses neglect to mention that Social Security itself produces these surpluses. Moreover, the projected budget surplus is dwarfed by Social Security's present shortfall of $7 trillion-$10 trillion, which consists of the benefits that living adults will receive minus their payroll tax payments. This shortfall represents an addition to living adults' wealth that has encouraged greater current consumption, lowered national saving, and widened trade deficits.
Journal Article
Medicare: usual and customary remedies will no longer work
A description of the structural deficiencies that have led to Medicare's impending bankruptcy, and a discussion of the merits of alternative approaches to extending the program's long-term viability. The author argues that the best approach is to adopt a "defined contribution" plan that will restore consumers' interest in economizing on health care services and boost competition among providers and insurers.