| List of Figures | ||
| List of Tables | ||
| Acknowledgments | ||
| In Memory of Shannon J. Schieber | ||
| 1 | Social Security: Avoiding the Downstream Catastrophe | 1 |
| 2 | The Context for the Passage of the Social Security Act in 1935 | 17 |
| 3 | Developing the Social Security Act of 1935 | 26 |
| 4 | Starting Up and Starting Over | 43 |
| 5 | To Fund or Not to Fund? | 66 |
| 6 | Unresolved Issues | 77 |
| 7 | A Deal That Couldn't Be Beat | 92 |
| 8 | The Inside Movers and Shakers | 115 |
| 9 | The Outside Movers, Shakers, and Takers | 128 |
| 10 | The End of the Beginning | 146 |
| 11 | A Tale of Good Intentions Gone Bad | 165 |
| 12 | The Continued Deterioration of the System and the Big Fix: The 1983 Amendments | 183 |
| 13 | Backsliding | 196 |
| 14 | Fundamental Questions | 208 |
| 15 | The Iron Rules of Arithmetic Assert Themselves | 229 |
| 16 | Social Security in the Bigger Picture | 242 |
| 17 | Heathens in the Temple | 263 |
| 18 | Social Security Today and Marginal Proposals for Reform | 290 |
| 19 | A Framework for Understanding the Options for Social Security Reform | 308 |
| 20 | The Return to Pay-Go Financing | 328 |
| 21 | Wanting to Fund Is Not Enough | 346 |
| 22 | The Benefits and Risks Under Alternative Forms of Retirement Provision | 372 |
| 23 | A Proposal for Reform | 386 |
| 24 | It's Your Money We're Talking About | 409 |
| Notes | 419 | |
| Index | 441 |
Overview