Social Security: Keeping the Promise for the 21st Century

Chairman Kohl, Ranking Member Martinez, and members of the Committee. Social Security is the largest spending program of the federalgovernment, the largest tax paid by most workers and the largest sourceof income for most retirees. It also faces a significant long-termfunding challenge. For these reasons, I am glad you chose to hold this hearing and am thankful for the opportunity to testify here today.

In my testimony I wish to highlight three points.

  • First, Social Security's long-term shortfalls worsened significantly in the latest Trustees Report, and is expected to continue to worsen if reform is delayed.

  • Second, population aging, not rising per capita health care costs, is the principal driver of overall entitlement costs and the largest threat to the budget; and

  • Third, Social Security policy should encourage longer work lives and simplify the program's complex benefit formula.

Click here to download this testimony as an Adobe Acrobat PDF.

Andrew G. Biggs is a resident scholar at AEI.

About the Author

 

Andrew G.
Biggs
  • Andrew G. Biggs is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC. Prior to joining AEI he was the principal deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), where he oversaw SSA's policy research efforts and led the agency's participation in the Social Security Trustees working group. In 2005 he worked on Social Security reform at the National Economic Council and in 2001 was on the staff of the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security. Andrew’s work at AEI focuses on Social Security reform, state and local government pensions, and comparisons of public and private sector compensation. His work has appeared in academic publications as well as outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post, and he has testified before Congress on numerous occasions. He holds a Bachelors degree from the Queen's University of Belfast, Masters degrees from Cambridge University and the University of London and a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics.
  • Phone: 202-862-5841
    Email: andrew.biggs@aei.org
  • Assistant Info

    Name: Rohan Poojara
    Phone: 202-862-5852
    Email: rohan.poojara@aei.org
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