How to double your pension payout

Social security, celebrating its 75th anniversary, is a popular scheme – but payments are meagre. Here's the solution

Steven Hill
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 25 August 2010 19.00

In the aftermath of the great recession, a debate over the American national pension system, known as social security, is heating up. This debate raises fundamental questions about what kind of society America wishes to be. The debate so far has been between those deficit busters who say social security must be trimmed back to reduce government indebtedness, and others who want to maintain it as is.

But the New America Foundation just released a study (which I authored) that proposes a different approach: doubling the current social security payout, and making it a true national retirement system. Creating a more robust system of "social security plus" would be good not onlyfor America's retirees, but also for the macro-economy at large.