What might secure Social Security benefits for future generations?
I suppose the first question is whether you really want to for everyone, especially for the affluent. Many wealthy couples are getting much more than a welfare family does. If the nation wants to repair the current system, there will be some pain—either higher taxes or a lower-than-promised rate of benefit growth. Benefit growth can be reduced or payroll taxes raised progressively. The President favors the former. But any attempt to reform the system progressively will mean swallowing important inequities. Social Security simply isn’t very effective at redistributing income. Benefits are based largely on an individual’s earnings. Effective redistribution must look at earnings plus investment income and at the family rather than the individual. Many individuals have low lifetime earnings, but have affluent spouses. They look poor to the Social Security system and would receive a windfall from any progressive reform. It is theoretically possible to design a reform that restores solvency
