[简答题]social security

[单项选择]Reforming the Social Security retirement program is an issue of enormous practical importance. Yet it remains the missing piece in American policy analysis. At a time when the Congress and the Administration are considering ways to reform welfare, Medicare, Medicaid, and the income tax, elected officials are still unwilling to confront the serious problems of our Social Security system. Eventually, however, its deteriorating financial condition will force major reforms. Whether those reforms are good or bad, whether they deal with the basic economic problems of the system or merely protect the solvency of existing institutional arrangements will depend in part on whether we, as economists, provide the appropriate intellectual framework for analyzing reform alternatives.
Major policy changes that affect the public at large can only happen in our democracy when there is widespread public support for the new direction of policy. In the field of economics, the views of the media, of o
A. a poor economic approach to the Social Security retirement program.
B. the reform of welfare.
C. major policy changes
D. government debt.
E. all of the abov

[单项选择]

A certain Social Security recipient will receive an annual benefit of $12,000 provided he has annual earnings of $9,360 or less, but the benefit will be reduced by $1 for every $3 of annual earnings over $9,360. What amount of total annual earnings would result in a 50 percent reduction in the recipient’s annual Social Security benefit (Assume Social Security benefits are not counted as part of annual earnings.)（）

A. $15，360
B. $17，360
C. $18，000
D. $21，360
E. $27，360

[单项选择]Just recently the trustees of Social Security and Medicare issued their annual reports on the programs’ futures. Here’s one startling fact: By 2030 the projected costs of Social Security and Medicare could easily consume—via higher taxes—a third of workers’ future wage and salary increases. We’re mortgaging workers’ future pay gains for baby boomers’ retirement benefits.
This matters because Social Security and Medicare are pay-as-you-go programs. Current taxpayers pay current benefits. Future taxpayers will pay future benefits. Baby boomers’ retirement benefits will come mostly from their children and grandchildren, who will be tomorrow’s workers. Consequently, baby boomers’ children and grandchildren face massive tax increases. Social Security and Medicare spending now equals 14 percent of wage and salary income, reports Elizabeth Bell, a research assistant to Eugene Steuerle of the Urban Institute, Washington, D.C.. Of course, payroll taxes don’t cover all the costs of Social S
A. Young people save from their salaries now to pay for retirement later.
B. The next generation of workers pay for the pensions of current workers.
C. Some property is given as a security for payment of money borrowed.
D. Workers will receive future compensation for a current salary reduction.

[填空题]Compared with the income tax, the social security tax is more like a (an)______.