Explain the funding structure of the Social Security and Medicare programs. Why are these programs in danger of running out of funds in the future?
What will be an ideal response?
Both Social Security and Medicare are structured as pay-as-you-go systems, which means the current benefits being paid to recipients are coming from contributions of current workers. These programs are in danger of running out of funds in the future because the number of retirees is increasing relative to the number of workers paying into the system, the retirees are living longer, and medical expenses are increasing. This means that in the decades to come the government will be funding both retirement benefits and more expensive health care, for more retirees, for a longer period of time, and there are now and will continue to be fewer workers per retiree than there were in past years.
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Real GDP refers to GDP adjusted:
A) for changes in ruling political party. B) for changes in tax rates. C) for changes in net imports. D) for changes in prices.
Which of the following has not been outsourced from the U.S.?
a. customer service centers b. data processing c. residential construction d. computer programming
The upward-sloping portion of the short-run average total cost curve is caused by:
A. indivisible setup costs. B. diseconomies of scale. C. the presence of fixed inputs. D. the absence of fixed inputs.
The removal of legal barriers alone may not be sufficient to eliminate the pay gap between whites and blacks because the increased competition may not be able to overcome
A. customer preferences that lead employers to discriminate. B. the wide gap in pay. C. employer preferences to discriminate. D. employer preferences to discriminate and customer preferences that lead employers to discriminate.