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3:30-4:45 pm Salon C
This session will address the Administration's proposals to reform Social Security, including the cost implications of private accounts
Brookings Social Security, Pensions, and Retirement Page
Cato Institute Project on Social Security Choice
Kevin L. Kliesen, Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, presiding
David Wessel, Economics Reporter, Wall Street Journal, moderator
Peter Orszag
Senior Fellow
Brookings Institution
Peter R. Orszag is the Joseph A. Pechman Senior Fellow in Economic Studies at The Brookings Institution; Co-Director of the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution; Director of the Retirement Security Project; and Research Professor at Georgetown University. He previously served as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, and as Senior Economist and Senior Adviser on the Council of Economic Advisers, during the Clinton Administration. His current areas of research include pensions, budget and tax policy, Social Security, higher education, and homeland security.
Dr. Orszag graduated summa cum laude in economics from Princeton University, and obtained a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in economics from the London School of Economics, which he attended as a Marshall Scholar. He is the co-editor of American Economic Policy in the 1990s (MIT Press: 2002), co-author of Protecting the American Homeland: A Preliminary Analysis (Brookings Institution Press: 2002), and co-author of Saving Social Security: A Balanced Approach (Brookings Institution Press: 2004). His other recent publications include: “Private Pensions: Issues and Options” (with William G. Gale), in H. Aaron et. al., editors, Agenda for the Nation (Brookings: 2003); “Budget Blues: The Fiscal Outlook and Options for Reform,” (with Alan J. Auerbach, William G. Gale, and Samara R. Potter), in H. Aaron et. al., eds., Agenda for the Nation (Brookings: 2003); “State Fiscal Constraints and Higher Education Spending,” (with Thomas Kane and David Gunter), Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center Discussion Paper No. 12, May 2003; “Reassessing the Fiscal Gap: The Role of Tax-Deferred Saving,” (with Alan J. Auerbach and William G. Gale), Tax Notes, July 28, 2003; “Economic Effects of Sustained Budget Deficits,” (with William G. Gale), National Tax Journal, September 2003; “The State Fiscal Crisis: Why It Happened and What to Do About It,” The Milken Institute Review, Third Quarter 2003; “Fiscal Follies: The Real Budget Problem and How to Fix It,” (with William G. Gale), Brookings Review, Fall 2003; “Sustained Budget Deficits: Longer-Run U.S. Economic Performance and the Risk of Financial and Fiscal Disarray,” (with Robert E. Rubin and Allen Sinai), paper presented at the Allied Social Sciences Associations Annual Meetings, The Andrew Brimmer Policy Forum, January 2004; “The Budget Outlook: Updates And Implications” (with William G. Gale), Tax Notes, February 2004; “The President’s FY 2005 Budget: First Impressions,” (with William G. Gale), Tax Notes, February 2004; and “Should the President’s Tax Cuts Be Made Permanent?” (with William G. Gale), Tax Notes, March 2004, Taxing the Future, 2005
Dr. Orszag has testified on numerous occasions before Congress and is a regular commentator on economic policy in the national press.
Michael Tanner
Director of Health and Welfare Studies
The Cato Institute
Michael Tanner directs research on new, market-based approaches to health, welfare and other "entitlements." His approach is based on individual responsibility rather than government control. Under Tanner's direction, Cato launched the Project on Social Security Choice-widely considered the leading impetus for transforming the soon-to-be-bankrupt system into a private savings program. He challenges the conventional wisdom that welfare can be reformed, arguing instead for the end of a welfare system that has bred dependence and despair while creating a permanent American underclass. Tanner's writing has been published in the Washington Post , Los Angeles Times , Wall Street Journal , and USA Today . He has appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, National Public Radio, PBS, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CNBC and Voice of America. A prolific author and frequent guest lecturer, Tanner served as director of research of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation before joining Cato in 1993.
