Andrew Biggs of the American Enterprise Institute writes about reforming Social Security:
There’s no getting back lost opportunities. Since 2001, average Social Security benefits have increased by 21 percent above inflation, and no elected official seeking to remain elected will dial those benefits back. Those costs are now baked in the cake.
Moreover, even record-high average retiree incomes today don’t mean that every retiree is doing well. While poverty in old age is at record lows, millions of seniors still have inadequate incomes.
And so, instead of an across-the-board benefit freeze, I’ve argued for gradually transitioning Social Security to pay a flat minimum benefit that would guarantee against poverty in old age, while simultaneously enrolling all employees in retirement plans to build savings to supplement that base. That model already works in Australia, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.
Read the whole thing here.