Pensions, Social Security, and the Privatization of Risk

Mitchell Orenstein brings together leading economists and policy advisors to discuss the complex and timely issue of retirement and risk. Employers, increasingly called upon by elected officials, have begun to shift from a model of collective risk-sharing towards a model of individualized investment risk. This represents a marked difference from the notion of an American "social safety net," which emerged during the Great Depression. Weighing what is gained and what is lost as new schemas surface, this book offers readers reasoned analysis of the looming crisis and our collective alternatives both domestically and abroad.