Social security programs generally seek to provide insurance and to reduce poverty and inequality. Providing insurance requires little redistribution. But reducing inequality and alleviating poverty do require redistribution. To reduce inequality, programs must redistribute income, but...

Labor market policies and institutions affect the success of economic reform but probably more for political than for economic reasons. Growth appears not to be hurt by minimum wages and mandatory benefits. But the relative size of organized labor (in government and elsewhere) is crucial

The contribution of government transfer programs to inequality is often assessed by analyzing to what extent the benefits paid go to lower income families. Several analysts have found that some key government transfers actually go mostly to middle and high income families and thus contribute to...