Saving Social Security: Which Way to Reform?

Wednesday, December 10, 2003
10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

The Brookings Institution
Falk Auditorium
1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC

When policymakers ultimately convene to address reform of the Social Security program, the debate is sure to be protracted and a resolution difficult to craft. Democrats generally favor preserving Social Security's current structure, while the Bush administration and many Republicans support replacing part of the existing program with individual accounts.

Brookings convened a panel of Social Security experts to discuss their own proposals as well as prospects for future congressional debate. Two of the panelists, Peter Orszag and Peter Diamond, are the authors of a new book from Brookings, Saving Social Security, which presents a new reform plan that combines benefit and revenue adjustments to restore long-term solvency to the program.

Moderator:

HENRY J. AARON
Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, and the Virginia and Bruce MacLaury Chair,
The Brookings Institution

Panelists:

PETER A. DIAMOND
Institute Professor and Professor of Economics,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

EDWARD M. GRAMLICH
Member, Chairman, 1994-1996 Advisory Council on Social Security

MAYA MacGUINEAS
Co-Director, Retirement Security Program, New America Foundation;
Executive Director, The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

PETER R. ORSZAG
Joseph A. Pechman Senior Fellow,Economic Studies, The Brookings Institution;
Co-Director, Tax Policy Center