Restoring Fiscal Sanity 2005: Meeting the Long-Run Challenge (Restoring Fiscal Sanity)

" The retirement of the baby boom generation will create spiraling costs for health care and pension programs. Combined with lower revenues, these developments will lead to a decline in economic growth if nothing is done. In this second volume of Restoring Fiscal Sanity, a group of policy experts focus on how to bring spending and revenues in line over the next decade, and even more important, how to balance them over the longer term. They suggest reforms in the tax system, Social Security, and Medicare that might close this looming gap and put the nation on a sounder fiscal footing. Contributors include Henry J. Aaron, William G. Gale, Ron Haskins, Jack Meyer, and Peter R. Orszag (Brookings Institution), Rudolph G. Penner and C. Eugene Steuerle (Urban Institute), and John B. Shoven (Stanford University). " Policy Experts Address How To Bring Federal Spending And Revenue In Line Over The Next Decade And Into Balance Over The Longer Term, Focusing On Reforms In The Tax System, Social Security, And Medicare--provided By Publisher. Dimensions Of The Budget Problem / Rudolph G. Penner And Alice Rivlin -- The Size And Role Of Government / Alice M. Rivlin And Isabel Sawhill -- Social Security / Peter R. Orszag And John B. Shoven -- Health / Henry J. Aaron And Jack Meyer -- Tax Policy Solutions / William G. Gale And C. Eugene Steuerle -- The Politics Of Deficit Reduction / Ron Haskins And Isabel Sawhill. Alice M. Rivlin And Isabel Sawhill, Editors. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover......Page 1 Title Page......Page 4 Contents......Page 8 Foreword......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 12 Overview......Page 14 1. Dimensions of the Budget Problem......Page 30 2. The Size and Role of Government......Page 48 3. Social Security......Page 68 4. Health......Page 86 5. Tax Policy Solutions......Page 112 6. The Politics of Deficit Reduction......Page 132 Contributors......Page 152 Index......Page 154