Do Democracies Bankrupt Social Security Programs?
About This Event
Is there an empirical relationship between Social Security and democracy? Social Security systems around the world are in financial trouble. One explanation for this phenomenon is that politically active elderly voters are more likely to support candidates who favor generous retirement benefits. These benefits are costly. Drawing on data from many countries, Casey Mulligan, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, will discuss the effect of democracy on the size and design of Social Security programs. Nicholas Eberstadt, the Henry Wendt Scholar in Political Economy at AEI, and Eric M. Engen, a resident scholar at AEI, will respond.
Agenda
9:00 a.m. Registration
9:15 Speaker Casey Mulligan, University of Chicago

Panelists Nicholas Eberstadt, AEI
Eric M. Engen, AEI
Moderator Kevin A. Hassett, AEI
11:00 Adjournment
Also Visit
AEIdeas Blog The American Magazine

What's new on AEI

image How to beat Memorial Day traffic forever
image Bernanke stumbles, markets react
image Don't edit the First Amendment
image Home Economics
AEI Participants

 

Nicholas
Eberstadt
  • Nicholas Eberstadt, a political economist and a demographer by training, is also a senior adviser to the National Bureau of Asian Research, a member of the visiting committee at the Harvard School of Public Health, and a member of the Global Leadership Council at the World Economic Forum. He researches and writes extensively on economic development, foreign aid, global health, demographics, and poverty. He is the author of numerous monographs and articles on North and South Korea, East Asia, and countries of the former Soviet Union. His books range from The End of North Korea (AEI Press, 1999) to The Poverty of the Poverty Rate (AEI Press, 2008).

     

  • Phone: 202-862-5825
    Email: eberstadt@aei.org
  • Assistant Info

    Name: Katherine Earle
    Phone: (202) 862-5872
    Email: katherine.earle@aei.org

 

Kevin A.
Hassett
  • Before joining AEI, Mr. Hassett was a senior economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and an associate professor of economics and finance at the Graduate School of Business of Columbia University, as well as a policy consultant to the Treasury Department during the George H. W. Bush and Clinton administrations. He served as an economic adviser to the George W. Bush 2004 presidential campaign, chief economic adviser to Senator John McCain during the 2000 presidential primaries, senior economic adviser to the McCain 2008 presidential campaign, and economic adviser to the Mitt Romney 2012 presidential campaign.   Mr. Hassett is a columnist for National Review.

  • Phone: 202-862-7157
    Email: khassett@aei.org
  • Assistant Info

    Name: Emma Bennett
    Phone: 202-862-5862
    Email: emma.bennett@aei.org

 

Casey B.
Mulligan
AEI on Facebook