Shocking new trend: Conservative economists who don’t want to gut Social Security

Shocking new trend: Conservative economists who <em>don’t</em> want to gut Social Security

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Instead, a fairly serious discussion ensued. Well-respected economists on both sides of the aisle agreed it would not be hard or costly to shore up benefits for the poor by as much as 10 or 15 percent, which would markedly improve their quality of life. While no specific commitment was made on where this discussion would go next, it was a sign that the entitlement reform debate is moving beyond just cuts and austerity.

“I have argued for a more far-reaching reform, similar to what you have in New Zealand or the U.K., where every retiree receives a flat benefit at the poverty level. The idea is that you take poverty among [America’s] seniors, which today is at 9 percent, down to zero percent,” said Andrew G. Biggs, an American Enterprise Institute scholar who was the head of Social Security research in the George W. Bush administration.
“On top of that, if you want to have a benefit above poverty, we need to sign people up for employer-sponsored plans or IRAs or something along those lines,” Biggs continued. “Social Security—I’m not going to say that it does not cut poverty. Clearly it does.”

Some of Biggs’ other ideas did not sit well with progressive economists, such as saying that benefits for middle-income earners were more than sufficient and could be cut, as well as suggesting it was a bad idea to raise taxes on wealthier Americans to better fund Social Security. But after years of threatened cuts to entitlements by the GOP and championed by Wall Street titans who want to avoid higher taxes, a serious discussion about updating the safety net was seen as a striking development.