Privatizing Social Security at Home and Abroad
分析了社会保障制度对储蓄、投资和增长的负面影响，并探讨私有化能否解决其财务不可持续问题，尤其关注老龄化国家的债务负担。
A century has passed since Otto von Bismarck instituted the first social-security system in Germany. Since then, government provision of retirement income has spread around the globe, alleviating poverty among the elderly, providing life-span insurance via old-age annuities, overcoming the Samaritan's dilemma by forcing everyone to save, and in many countries, extending coverage to include old-age health insurance. But for all the good it has done, social security is severely limiting world saving, investment, and growth. It threatens to bankrupt the young and future generations. of some of the world's leading nations (see Jagadeesh Gokhale et al., 1996). It is the chain-letter, pay-as-you-go method of financing social security that lies at the heart of the problem. Taking income from young savers and giving it to old spenders, while placating the young with promises of repayment, not only reduces national saving, but straddles the next generation with the obligation-the debt-to meet these promises. The size of these debts and the burden on the next generation will be much greater for countries with rapidly aging populations. Would privatization solve Social Security's problems. This paper provides a framework for thinking about this issue.