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The Rationale for Fundamental Pension Reform in Germany and the United States: An Assessment

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  • Gary Burtless

Abstract

This paper considers the arguments for fundamental pension reform in Germany and the United States. The two countries have recently made or are considering reforms that would reduce the generosity of the traditional, pay-as-you-go pension system. Some or all of the lost benefits would be replaced by pensions from newly created individual, defined-benefit, retirement accounts. The paper addresses three questions that are relevant for assessing fundamental reform: (1) Should the pension system move toward advance funding of future benefit obligations? (2) What financial assets should be accumulated to back future pension promises? (3) Should the existing system be reformed to include individual retirement accounts?

Suggested Citation

  • Gary Burtless, 2001. "The Rationale for Fundamental Pension Reform in Germany and the United States: An Assessment," CESifo Working Paper Series 510, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_510
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mr. Alfredo Cuevas & Mr. George A Mackenzie & Mr. Philip R. Gerson, 1997. "Pension Regimes and Saving," IMF Occasional Papers 1997/006, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Gary Burtless, 2000. "Social Security Privatization and Financial Market Risk: Lessons from U.S. Financial History," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 211, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    3. International Monetary Fund, 2000. "Germany: Selected Issues," IMF Staff Country Reports 2000/142, International Monetary Fund.
    4. repec:wbk:wbpubs:13828 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Eric M. Engen & Andreas Lehnert, 2000. "Mutual funds and the U.S. equity market," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), vol. 86(Dec), pages 797-812, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Robert Fenge & Martin Werding, 2004. "Ageing and the tax implied in public pension schemes: simulations for selected OECD countries," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 25(2), pages 159-200, June.
    2. Gary Burtless, 2004. "The Age Profile of Income and the Burden of Unfunded Transfers in Four Countries: Evidence from the Luxembourg Income Study," LIS Working papers 394, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.

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