Journal Article
The baby boomers' mega-inheritance-myth or reality?
Kotlikoff, Laurence J.; Gokhale, Jagadeesh (2000-10)
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.
Economic Commentary , Issue Oct

Journal Article
Generational equity and sustainability in U.S. fiscal policy
Gokhale, Jagadeesh (1998-04)
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.
Economic Commentary , Issue Apr

Working Paper
Does participating in a 401(k) raise your lifetime taxes?
Kotlikoff, Laurence J.; Neumann, Todd; Gokhale, Jagadeesh (2001)
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 Papers (Old Series) , Paper 0108

Discussion Paper
Fiscal and generational imbalances: new budget measures for new budget priorities
Smetters, Kent; Gokhale, Jagadeesh (2003-12)
This paper describes the deficiencies of the measures used to calculate the federal budget, make revenue and spending projections, and assess the sustainability of current fiscal policies. The nature of the deficiencies hides the tremendous impact that Social Security and Medicare commitments will have on the budget in the future, given the way the programs are structured currently and the momentous demographic shift underway as the baby boom generation approaches retirement age. This paper proposes two new simple measures that will enable government officials and the public to calculate more ...
Policy Discussion Papers , Issue Dec

Working Paper
Demographic change, generational accounts, and national saving in the United States
Gokhale, Jagadeesh (1996)
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.
Working Papers (Old Series) , Paper 9603

Journal Article
Restoring generational balance in U.S. fiscal policy: what will it take?
Kotlikoff, Laurence J.; Gokhale, Jagadeesh; Auerbach, Alan J. (1995-01)
A study of the magnitudes of tax increases, transfer cuts, or reductions in government purchases that would be needed to rectify the huge imbalance in the generational stance of U.S. fiscal policy, concluding that congressionally proposed outlay reductions in nondefense and non-Social Security spending would still be insufficient to bridge the gap.
Economic Review , Issue Q I , Pages 2-12

Journal Article
Population aging and fiscal policy in Europe and the United States
Gokhale, Jagadeesh; Raffelhuschen, Bernd (1999-10)
The authors report each country's total intertemporal public liability as the sum of its explicit outstanding debt and the present values of its implicit liabilities--the excess of projected transfers and government purchases over tax revenues. They find rapid, persistent population aging in almost every European country. They also calculate that for European countries with the highest implicit liabilities, eliminating total intertemporal liabilities would require tax increases exceeding 4 percent of GDP. Compared to Europe, the future challenges of population aging and fiscal problems in the ...
Economic Review , Issue Q IV , Pages 10-20

Journal Article
Social Security: are we getting our money's worth?
Gokhale, Jagadeesh; Lansing, Kevin J. (1996-01)
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.
Economic Commentary , Issue Jan

Journal Article
Generational accounts for the United States: an update
Sturrock, John R.; Gokhale, Jagadeesh; Page, Benjamin R. (1997-10)
An examination of the continuing generational imbalance in U.S. fiscal policy, showing that under current policy, future generations will have to pay almost half of their lifetime labor incomes in net taxes to balance the government's book--more than 70% greater than the 28.6% today's newborns are slated to give up.
Economic Review , Issue Q IV , Pages 2-23

Journal Article
The 1995 budget and health care reform: a generational perspective
Kotlikoff, Laurence J.; Gokhale, Jagadeesh; Auerbach, Alan J. (1994-01)
A presentation of the baseline generational accounts for 1992, estimating both the effect of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 and the further impact of the Clinton administration's health reform proposal.
Economic Review , Volume 30 , Issue Q I , Pages 20-30