US Pension Reform: Lessons from Other Countries

It is generally accepted that Social Security must be reformed, but there is little agreement on what should be done to reform the program. US Pension Reform: Lessons from Other Countries looks at the social pension reforms of twelve other countries, assesses the current US Social Security program, and evaluates how these twelve models inform opportunities for adaptation of the current system. The authors consider governments’ current fiscal balances in order to contextualize countries’ initial financial liabilities and pension program infrastructure.

The book concludes with an integrated reform proposal for Social Security. These prescriptions suggest concrete plans to address issues such as underfunding, benefits for high-income participants and the elderly demographic segment, as well as the creation of an individual account program. This volume forges significant advances and boldly confronts the challenge of reconstructing the US Social Security program.

Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, senior fellow, has been associated with the Institute since 2002. Before joining the Institute, he worked with the Danish Ministry of Defense, the United Nations in Iraq, and in the private financial sector. He is a graduate of the Danish Army’s Special School of Intelligence and Linguistics with the rank of first lieutenant; the University of Aarhus in Aarhus, Denmark; Columbia University in New York; and received his Ph. D from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies. He is author of The Accelerating Decline in America’s High-Skilled Workforce: Implications for Immigration Policy (2007), coeditor of Transatlantic Economic Challenges in an Era of Growing Multipolarity (2012), coauthor of Transforming the European Economy (2004), and assisted with Accelerating the Globalization of America: The Role for Information Technology (2006).

Martin Neil Baily is an economist at the Brookings Institution and formerly at the Peterson Institute. He is best known for his work on productivity and competitiveness and for his tenure as a cabinet member during the Clinton Administration. He was one of three members of the Council of Economic Advisers from 1994 to 1996, and chairman of the Council from 1999 to 2001. He currently co-chairs the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Financial Regulatory Reform Initiative and serves as a Senior Advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group.