We extend previous estimates of the average marginal tax rate from the federal individual income tax to include social security "contributions." The social security tax is a flat-rate levy on labor earnings (and income from self-employment) up to a ceiling value of earnings. Our computations...

In 1974 the federal government instituted Supplemental Social Insurance(SSI). The eligible group was the elderly on welfare and disabled individuals.The program distributed extra income and made people eligible for Medicaid in all states except Arizona which did not have Medicaid. We used...

A two-period lifetime overlapping generations growth model is used to evaluate the possibility that social insurance can effectively offset economic risks associated with uncertainty about the rate of population growth. Crude measures of the seriousness of this type of risk in the current United...

In these notes I hope to touch on a variety of issues relating to public debt and social insurance and to suggest ways in which they might be approached. It is to be viewed as a research proposal, or an outline of open problems rather than as a statement of results. The notes are divided into...