Is Social Security Broke?

A Cartoon Guide to the Issues

By Barbara R. Bergmann & James Cleaver Bush

Subjects: Economics, Political Science, Business, Health & Medicine, Health Policy & Management
Ebook : 9780472023059, 112 pages, 53 drawings, April 2010
Paperback : 9780472067435, 112 pages, 53 drawings, 8 x 8, October 2000
Hardcover : 9780472097432, 112 pages, 53 drawings, 8 x 8, November 2000
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.11559
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An entertaining introduction—using cartoons and clear explanations—to the issues everyone should know about Social Security

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Table of Contents

  • Lots of people are worried about Social Security, p.1
  • How Social Security operates and why it will never go bankrupt, p.8
  • The problem of the Boomers' retirement costs, p.20
  • How we can keep Social Security going, p.26
  • Who is spreading the bankruptcy scare talk and why, p.44
  • What a privatized system would look like, p.56
  • Replacing Social Security with private accounts would create some big problems, p.60
  • Using the surplus to "save Social Security", p.74
  • When should we act to balance out the Social Security taxes and benefits?, p.76
  • Common objections to Social Security and answers to them, p.88
  • Americans have always chosen to shore up Social Security, p.94
  • For further reading, p.99

Description

A funny, smart, and engaging book on Social Security? You bet! Let Bill and Betty Boomer, their parents Ed and Ethel Elderly, and the young married Steve and Sue Sprout take you through the thickets of this thorny issue. You will come to understand why people are so worried about Social Security, how it operates, how we can keep it going, the problems we would face under a privatized system, and why Americans have always chosen to shore up this important program. You will learn about the system and the current debates surrounding it--and find yourself enjoying it at the same time.
Barbara R. Bergmann is Professor Emerita, University of Maryland and The American University. Jim Bush is the editorial cartoonist for the Providence Journal.

Barbara R. Bergmann is Professor Emerita, University of Maryland and The American University. Jim Bush is the editorial cartoonist for the Providence Journal.

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