Resource allocations are jointly determined by the actions of social planners and households. In this paper, we highlight the distinction between planner optimization and household optimization. We show that planner optimization is a partial substitute for household optimization and that this is...

Implicit taxes in Social Security, which measure Social Security contributions net of benefits accrued as a percentage of earnings, tend to increase over the life cycle. In this paper, we examine the effects of three potential policy changes on implicit Social Security tax rates: extending the...