Privatization of Social Security
Privatization of social security can be examined in a custom research paper by one of Paper Masters' political science or public administration specialists. Below you will see some issues discussed in former research papers that our writers have had to compose.
In recent years, the structure of the U.S. Social Security system, founded during the Great Depression, has become increasingly controversial. Under its current structure, Social Security provides an income to retired or disabled Americans, financed by taxes collected from Americans currently working. With the advancement of the Baby Boom Generation towards retirement, the aging of the American population is leading to a situation in which many fear that working Americans will be unable to adequately fund the Social Security payments to elderly Americans in the future.
In order to counter the projected Social Security crises, many critics recommend that Social Security be privatized, in whole or in part. Once privatization has taken place, Social Security will act as any private pension fund. People will contribute to the fund during their working years. The funds contributed will be invested in public stock and bond markets, which have traditionally demonstrated higher returns than government debt. Upon retirement, the former workers will receive the proceeds from their fund.
Supporters of the current system point to two major problems with the proposed system.
- First, should there be a significant downturn in the public securities markets, retirees may not achieve the expected return on their investment. In such a case, the government would undoubtedly be forced to make up the difference through higher taxes.
- Second, since no funds currently exist, private or public, the government will need to finance both payments to current retirees and the funds for current workers through taxes on Americans currently working, likely meaning drastically increased taxes in the present.