30 Countries Have Personal Accounts

Andrew Roth

From a press release issued by the National Center for Policy Analysis (emphasis added):

Thirty countries have reformed their pay-as-you-go Social Security systems with personal retirement accounts (PRAs). As a result of these changes, Britain, Chile and many others have virtually no unfunded liability. By contrast, the U.S. Social Security system is facing an unfunded liability of $11 trillion -- about the size of the entire U.S. economy. "No nation's reform is perfect, but there is a lot we can learn from their mistakes and their successes," said Estelle James, author of a new study about international experiences by the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA). "We can learn how to keep administrative costs low, reduce risk and ensure that the elderly are kept out of poverty." ... "From the Conservative party in Great Britain, to communists in China to a fascist dictatorship in Chile to social democrats in Sweden, the impetus of reform has been the same," said NCPA President John C. Goodman. "Ideology doesn't matter when you can't pay your bills."

Posted by Andrew Roth on June 15, 2005 2:40 PM to Social Security Choice