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...

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...

An argument that any successful reform of the Social Security system must 1) result in more real investment, 2) restore individuals' incentives to work, and 3) reduce or eliminate the intergenerational redistribution that leads to low national saving.

The better stockholders' information about a firm's prospective finances, the better their decisions on investing their money productively. The same is true of lawmakers' decisions on how to allocate public funds. As the Enron-Andersen debacle has made abundantly clear, murky financial reporting...

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...

An investigation of the allocative consequences of resource shifts that would result if the Clinton administration's budget plan is adopted, examining the timing and composition of both net outlay cuts and net revenue increases represented in the budget proposal, as well as the generational...

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.

An argument that shifting to a privatized, funded and contribution-based Social Security system could provide undiminished benefits to current retirees while simultaneously preserving the promise of a secure retirement for today's workers and their descendants.

A look at why the private insurance market has failed to cover long-term care risks adequately, and an evaluation of several proposals for funding such care through social insurance.

An analysis of the intergenerational tax burdens that are likely to arise under the Clinton administration's health care reform proposal as well as under two alternative plans, examining the potential redistributive effects of each.