Issue Briefs

Download the pdf: History and Future of the Social Security Trust Fund_ Part III Read Part I                  Read Part II Introduction Part III of this issue brief series examines how the Social…

Download the pdf: History and Future of the Social Security Trust Fund_ Part II Read Part I                  Read Part III Introduction Part II of this issue brief series explains how changes to the…

Downloadable pdf: Social Security's Debt Limit Escape Clause Introduction Last month, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen notified Congress that the federal government had reached the current debt limit ($31.4 trillion).[1] As a result, the Treasury Department has undertaken traditional “extraordinary measures”…

Introduction Earlier this month the Department of Education proposed new regulations to allow more students to avoid repaying the money they borrowed to attend college.[1] These regulations would effectively turn the student loan program into a federal grant for many…

Download the pdf: Social Security: A New Solution to an Old Problem Introduction More than one-quarter of state and local government employees are exempt from Social Security because they participate in a pension plan that allegedly provides comparable retirement benefits.[1]…

Download the pdf: The Social Security Un-Fairness Act Introduction In a rare display of bipartisanship, more than 300 members of the U.S. House of Representatives have co-sponsored legislation (H.R. 82, “Social Security Fairness Act”) to increase benefits for individuals who…

Download the pdf: Social-Security-Replacement-Rates_Nudging-in-the-Wrong-Direction.pdf Introduction Social Security reform is both necessary and urgent, yet Congress remains reluctant to act.[1] This political inertia is primarily the result of two factors. First, the combined Social Security trust funds (OASDI) are projected to remain…

Introduction With inflation rising and economic growth slowing, the Federal Reserve (Fed) faces the difficult task of curbing inflation without causing a recession. The Fed fights inflation with higher interest rates which reduce the demand for goods and services.…