these alternatives maintains a system that is generally similar to that which is in place today; the other two introduce personal accounts into the Social Security system.
One of the arguments in favor of the personal account issue is that individuals would have greater control over how their retirement investments are managed and thus financial literacy in the country would increase and possibly the overall savings rate. But there is no reason to suppose that Americans as a whole would indeed become more literate from a financial standpoint, and the recent performance of the stock market indicates that equity markets are not nearly as invulnerable as people have come to expect.
The authors do a good job of identifying the salient points of the various alternatives discussed by the council, and they also point out additional areas of concern which need to be addressed. Many Americans rely on Social Security for their future, even those who do not expect it to fully provide for their needs, and reform, or reorganization, needs to be undertaken to meet future obligations.
In, "The Economy You Can't See," Paul Starobin examines the so-called "underground" economy of the United States and determines that the overall economic picture may be far better than official estimates and statistics portray. According to Starobin, there is no accurate way to measure the underground economy precisely because it is underground: income is not reported, it is conducted largely in cash, and many (though not all) of its activities are illegal. Yet the underground economy provides jobs and income to Americans and may ensure that some activities that would otherwise be unprofitable due to government regulation still get done. From this perspective, the underground economy, or portions of it, contribute to the standard of living of Americans.
Starobin argues against stronger enforcement efforts, one of the actions that some claim should be ta...