On September 7, the Urban Institute published new estimates of lifetime taxes paid and benefits received for Social Security and Medicare. Unmarried workers and two-earner couples about break even on Social Security, but single earner couples do considerably better. Everyone gets much more in Medicare benefits than they pay in.
On September 6, the Center for Retirement Research published an issue brief discussing some proposed changes to the Consumer Price Index for calculating cost of living increases for Social Security.
On August 22, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco published a study suggesting that retirement of the baby boom generation could have a depressing effect on the stock market.
On August 18, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York published a study examining the economic effects of different options for stabilizing Social Security’s finances.
On August 16, the Center for Retirement Research published a study on changes in the average age at which people have retired over time. The age for men declined steadily until the mid-1990s, but has since drifted upward. The age for women has risen almost continuously.
On August 5, the Congressional Budget Office released a report on Social Security’s long-run solvency.
On July 27, University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan published a commentary arguing that the increase in unemployment among the elderly is due primarily to their unwillingness to work rather than a lack of demand for their services.
On July 20, AARP published a survey of baby boomers on their plans and expectations for retirement.
Also on July 20, the Economic Policy Institute published a guidebook to Social Security for young people.
On June 30, the Bureau of Labor Statistics published a study which found that about 15 percent of workers reenter the labor force after retiring.
I last posted items on this topic on July 5.
Bruce Bartlett is an American historian and columnist who focuses on the intersection between politics and economics. He blogs daily and writes a weekly column for The Fiscal Times. Bartlett has written for Forbes Magazine and Creators Syndicate, and his work is informed by many years in government, including as a senior policy analyst in the Reagan White House. He is the author of seven books including the New York Times best-seller, Imposter: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy (Doubleday, 2006).
