About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


4 Fiscal Policy Forum 1 (1986)

handle is hein.tera/fisporum0004 and id is 1 raw text is: FiSCA PIfc TAX FOUNDATION, INCORPORATED At Issue: Social Security and the Budget n this issue of Fiscal Policy Forumn, the budgetary status of the social security trust funds is examined by Al- icia H. Munnell, Senior Vice President and Director of Research for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. She seeks to clear up some of the confusion arising from the complicated interaction be- tween social security and the rest of the Federal government and from the changes over time in the budgetary sta- tus of the social security trust funds. She argues that the projected un- precedented buildup of trust fund re- serves adds a new and compelling argument for reporting the social secu- rity trust funds separately. Ms. Munnell also argues that the date at which the separation is slated to occur should be accelerated so that these as- sets, which are designed to pay for fu- ture social security benefits as the baby boom generation retires, do not distort decisions about social security or the rest of the budget. [EDITOR'S NOTE: When Ms. Mun- nell wrote this article, removal from the budget was scheduled to occur at the be- ginning of fiscal year 1993. The Bal- anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman- Hollings) required that social security be moved off budget immediately. The old age and survivors and disability in- surance trust funds (OASDI) are now, by law, off budget and exempt from any general budget limitation imposed by statute. Medicare (HI) remains on budget.] While the goal Ms. Munnell espouses in this thoughtful analysis has been en- acted into present law, her balanced treatment of the issue remains cogent for any discussion of budgetary policy. In addition to her responsibilities as Director of the Boston Fed, Ms. Mun- nell conducts research in the areas of tax policy, social security, and public and private pensions. She has written exten- sively and testified frequently before Congressional hearings on matters of tax and retirement income policy. She earned her doctorate in Econom- ics from Harvard University and her B.A. in economics from Wellesley College. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not reflect those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the Federal Reserve System or the 'ax Foundation, Incorporated. An expanded version of this article ap- peared in the July/August 1985 issue of the New England Economic Review. TAX FOUNDATION, INCORPORATED One Thomas Circle, N.W., Suite 500 Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 822-9050