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The sky isn't falling on Social Security, say economists Dean Baker and Mark Weisbrot in this readable but sophisticated defense of America's popular government-run retirement program. The public suspects Social Security won't be solvent in the 21st century, they continue, because of "an avalanche of misinformation, disinformation, and powerful political and financial interests." The authors are both liberal economists, and they believe that the privatization of Social Security favored by many libertarians and younger Americans would involve great risk and possibly destroy a system of entitlements that has rescued millions of retirees from spending their golden years in poverty. Although they admit the stock market has averaged a 7 percent rate of return over the last 75 years--much higher than anything Social Security can claim--there is no way to predict what will happen in the future; mandatory private investment programs favored by many free-market reformers therefore offer false promises. Only Social Security, say Baker and Weisbrot, provides a guarantee of income for the elderly. Along the way, Social Security: The Phony Crisis discusses the history of Social Security and evaluates several of the reform proposals now on the table in Washington. A constant drumbeat in favor of the status quo will guarantee this book's popularity among liberals. --John J. Miller
Book Description
Is it true that the Social Security system is in serious trouble and must be repaired? As baby boomers begin to retire, will they inevitably, by force of their sheer numbers, bankrupt the system? Is Social Security a big Ponzi scheme that will leave future generations with little to show for their lifetime of contributions? Is the only way to solve the Social Security crisis through radical changes like privatization or bolstering it with massive new taxes?
According to the authors of this important new study, the answer to these questions is a resounding no. In Social Security: The Phony Crisis, economists Dean Baker and Mark Weisbrot argue that there is no economic, demographic, or actuarial basis for the widespread belief that the program needs to be fixed.
As the authors emphasize, there is virtually no disagreement about the facts of Social Security's finances, or even the projections for its future. Rather, the Social Security debate has been foundering on misconceptions, confusion, and lack of agreement on the meaning of crucial terms.
The authors also take on related issues: that privatization would help save Social Security, that America has a pressing need to increase its national savings, and that future generations will suffer from the costs—especially for health care—of supporting a growing elderly population.
As New York Times columnist Fred Brock recently wrote, "So-called reform of the Social Security system is looking more and more like a solution in search of a problem." In this accessible and insightful work, Baker and Weisbrot seek to cut through some of the myths and fallacies surrounding this crucial policy issue.
"Dean Baker and Mark Weisbrot have no trouble at all demonstrating that even on highly conservative assumptions about economic growth, the much-forecast insolvency of the Social Security system by about 2030 is most unlikely to happen then, if indeed ever."—The Economist
"The authors challenge basic assumptions with vigor and intelligence. . . . An absolutely relevant and important analysis, presented with force and clarity, that asks, basically, what kind of a nation we really are."—Kirkus Reviews
"Proponents—like George W. Bush—of Social Security privatization . . . typically ignore prospects for a stagnant or falling stock market. In Social Security: The Phony Crisis, [Baker and Weisbrot] show how a falling stock market could place pressure on both future Social Security payments and privatization schemes because earnings from the trust fund could actually fall."—Jeff Madrick, New York Review of Books
Customer Reviews:
Impeccable and Typical of the CEPR.......2007-06-03
There are some reviews listed by people who seem to be under the spell of the illusory "free markets." They seem to think that putting "must-have" money into risky investments like the stock market is a great idea. They are missing an important statistical fact when they quote the return on the US stock market, and that is that any average you calculate for a given period will be less for non-elite investors. Through insider trading and superior knowledge, better off investors do far better than non-elite investors. This has been conclusively demonstrated by research into 401k returns and is called the "yield disparity." It is one major reason, in addition to companies contributing less to 401ks than they did to pensions, why so many people's retirement in the US is at risk. Furthermore, all the major investment banks know this, and they are still pushing for to take over the social security system for their own purposes.
As far as calling the authors left wing or crackpots. I can tell you the work done by Dean Baker and by the Center for Economic and Policy reseach is some of the best economics done in the country. They are one of the few economic institutes of note who have not sold out to large power interests. If you sit in the top 2% of wealth in the country, go ahead and call them names. You need to, because their facts can not be argued away so easily. However, the rest need to wake up. If you are part of the rest of population (the other 98%) of the country in income and agree with Social Security "reform" you either don't know what is intended for Social Security (i.e. handing it over to wall street) or did not understand the arguments expressed in this book.
Jeez, I guess these guys got it wrong!.......2007-04-26
Well, it's now 2007, and there's very little doubt by anyone (even left-wing nut jobs like these guys) that if something is not done, the Social Security system WILL FAIL. How many people bought into their flat earth diatribe? These guys are probably related to the fellows who wrote the 1943 book: "Splitting the Atom: Junk Science". The book unfortunately is wishful thinking, spun around manipulated data. Propaganda, not misinterpreted information.
Detailed and comprehensive statement of economic fact.......2006-11-23
I have often heard the jeremiads about social security that through shear repetition hope to gain acceptance. Most significantly we hear that demographics doom social security as the large aging population will dwarf the new workforce and push it into bankruptcy. Baker and Weisbrot use detailed actuarial and labor force statistics to demonstrate that increases in average worker income will more than offset the increases in future recipients. Perhaps Italy and Japan will have those issues but Americans have more children and more immigrants and we shall have sufficient workers to cover the costs of benefits. Why don't the conservative forecasters suggest that we raise the maximum incomes for SS tax if they are concerned about its solvency. I do not want to repeat the arguments of Baker and Weisbrot since they state the case so effectively. The other amazing aspect of the book is that it applies so well to the 2005 privatization debate even though it was writter 6-7 years earlier.
Inaccurate tabloid mentality economics.......2005-07-17
This book is more of a left-wing diatribe then real, intelligent economic analysis.
Save Social Security - by enslaving young people.......2005-02-24
The authors do a wonderful job of ignoring one vital fact - how Social Security actually works.
Social Security is an intergenerational welfare program.
Money is taken from the young, and given to retired people.
The number of retired people will increase tremendously in the next few years as the generational wave (aka baby boomers) start to retire.
This means that young people will have to pay more to keep Social Security running. At the same time, there are no armies of younger children to provide retirement money for today's working people.
Social Security eats the young for the benefit of the old.
As the authors note, excess Social Security collections are used to buy government debt. This forms the "Trust Fund".
Here is what the government itself says about the "trust fund".
This quote is from Status of the Social Security and Medicaid Programs (2004). "Since neither the interest paid on the Treasury bonds held in the HI and OASDI Trust Funds, nor their redemption, provides any net new income to the Treasury, the full amount of the required Treasury payments to these trust funds must be financed by increased taxation, increased Federal borrowing and debt, and/or a reduction in other government expenditures."
After 2016, there will be more money paid out of Social Security to retirees and survivors than taken in by the 12.4% tax.
To pay for Social Security, the government either has to increase taxes, borrow money, or reduce expenses.
It is that simple. To keep Social Security going, we have to enslave young people.
Any volunteers?
Peter Simmons Author The Next Crash
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Southern Economic Journal, published by Southern Economic Association on January 1, 2001. The length of the article is 6503 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: 2 1/2 Proposals to Save Social Security [*].(Review) (book review)
Author: Deborah Fretz
Publication:
Southern Economic Journal (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2001
Publisher: Southern Economic Association
Volume: 67
Issue: 3
Page: 764
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
Bermuda has recently come to the attention to global strategic planners. This report puts these executives on the fast track. Ten chapters provide: an overview of how to strategically access this important market, a discussion on economic fundamentals, marketing & distribution options, export and direct investment options, and full risk assessments (political, cultural, legal, human resources). Ample statistical benchmarks and comparative graphs are given.
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Business Opportunities in Penang, Malaysia
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall PTR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Economic Conditions
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Exports & Imports
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General
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Economic Conditions
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Finance & Investing
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ASIN: 0132679078 |
Book Description
From Chapter 3:
Penang is the second smallest state of Peninsular Malaysia in terms of land areas, comprising approximately 1,031 sq. km. It consists of the island of Penang which comprises only 293 sq. km; and the Wellesley Province situated on the north-western coast of mainland (bounded to the north and east by the State of Kedah and to the south by the State of Perak) which comprises the remaining 798 sq. km.
The British were probably the first to recognise the strategic position of Penang as an important trading centre in the Straits of Malacca and Sumatra. Penang's port served not only the northern part of west Malaysia, north Sumatra and south Thailand but also Myanmar and India. However, its role as a trading centre was significantly reduced when Penang lost its free port status in the 1960s. As a result, Penang's economy flatered.
And yet, today, Penang is one of the fastest growing economies in Malaysia. It is recognised as an industralised state. In 1991, for instance, Penang's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 11%. Between now and the year 2000, Penang is expected to achieve an average annual growth rate of at least 7%.
Penang has a stable socio-political environment and a steadily growing economy. In addition, the Penang State Government is responsive to business needs and has identified the necessary strategies to develop Penang into a business centre.
Book Description
An indispensable management guide to making sure that the long-term strategies and day-to-day goals a company sets are successfully executed, written by the coauthor of the national bestseller It’s Not the Big That Eat the Small . . . It’s the Fast That Eat the Slow.
Good managers at every level recognize the importance of strategic planning and setting concrete goals for their employees. But even the best among them often fail to implement and support the crucial processes that turn well-laid plans into visible successes. Studies show that over the last fifty years, a whopping 83 percent of corporate slowdowns were attributable not to outside economic forces but to the lack of vigilant follow-through within the company itself.
In It's Not What You Say...It's What You Do, Laurence Haughton identifies the missteps that allow initiatives to fall through the cracks and explains how to close the gap between what a company sets out to do and what actually happens. Drawing on interviews with top-level executives from such companies as IKEA, the Wall Street Journal, Charles Schwab, Time Warner, Watson Wyatt, Pella Corp., and scores of others both large and small, he presents the essential strategies for ensuring the success of innovations and change, including:
• Get more “buy-in” from employees on new initiatives
• Balance control with coordination to make your team more effective
• Make sure that expectations are crystal clear
• Maintain a sense of urgency and momentum on a daily basis
Filled with real-life examples of how effective follow-through stems the waste of resources, improves productivity, and prevents costly mistakes, It's Not What You Say...It's What You Do gives managers up and down the corporation or company the tools they need to eliminate failure resulting from lack of follow-through and achieve their goals.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent. Much better than "Execution".......2007-07-04
Quoting the conclusion of "The Everygreen Project" in the Introduction, the author made his theme loud and clear: "it matters very much though that whatever you choose to implement you execute it flawlessly.......to make every level follow through." Using plenty of well written examples, well structured analysis and action points riding on the four conceptual building blocks (clear direction, the right people, buy in, individual initiative), the author did his job brilliantly. I am obliged to give extra credit for his intelligent use of acronyms like SMART (specific, measurable, accountable, realistic and time-bound for goal setting) and CAVE people (citizens against virtually everything) in the right place at the right time to elaborate his ideas. In short, a must read for all business people. Highly recommended!
Below please find one of my most favorite concepts for your reference.
Four steps to outmaneuver the CAVE people and result in more buy-in:
1. Kick off your change with a Wow! event
2. Blitzkrieg them (blitzkrieg means to follow through so fast the CAVE people dont have the time to organise their resistance)
3. Create disciples from the rank and file
4. Take your success story straight to the top
It's All About Action.......2006-05-06
Some books titles draw me in immediately. Such was the case with this book - I mean would anyone disagree with this title?
Even so the book sat on my shelf for quite awhile. Once I picked it up, I read it in about a day and a half.
It's that good.
The book is built on four building blocks - the cornerstones the author identifies to creating greater follow-through in any organization.
- Clear Direction
- The Right People
- Buy-in
- Individual Initiative
I love that Haughton uses the phrase building blocks, because that is what they are. He reminds to forget quick fixes, but rather to get back to the basics. Then he gives us ideas and examples of what we can do that will predictably create projects and initiatives that will create results, rather than disappointments.
This is a book about personal leadership accountability and how to create an organizational expectation of higher accountability. In other words, this is a book about getting greater results. Read it and you will get many ideas on how to do just that.
So read it . . . and hold yourself accountable for putting what you learn into action.
A refreshing, enjoyable book to read with great examples.......2006-03-10
Too often I find that I have to push myself to get through business books, but Laurence's book combines an easy reading style, engaging examples, and relevant practicals to keep pulling the reader along. It wasn't long before grabbed a high-lighter and started taking notes to share with others I work with.
Close the Gap, What A Company Can Do, What Really Happens........2005-06-08
To be a successful business, you must have a clear direction with the right people who have the abilities to do the job wholeheartedly. Character is the ability to maintain monentum long after the mood has passed. Creating a reason to rise above tough conditions is necessary. Respect others and realize that there's a fine line between enough and too much accountability. Mainly, you've got to get back to basics; the things which makes or breaks the company is the manager's ability to get everyone at every level following through and to show a good example.
Customers are fickle and will take advantage of the best offers and costs. Chance plays a big part, as does inducement to switch and, as always, curiosity (wanting the best deal even if you have to go way cross town to get it) are important considerations of customers or clients' actions. Disappointment in the product, services, or common courtesty on the part of the company they've trusted will drive them away. Everyone can be replaced.
Recently, a store manager at Walgreen's repeatedly hurt my feelings at different trips to my neighborhood store, and was most unfair to a regular customer. Did it do any good to go to the head office? I doubt it, as the district over the local stores refused to listen. When this happens, you lose business, prestige and other customers -- as interested bystanders viewed his tough and mean attitude and will no doubt go elsewhere. Also, word-of-mouth publicity will cause that particular Walgreen's to get a bad reputation in this town where stores close as fast as they open, and gives the nationwide company a black eye.
A very important factor to consider is not to abuse the elderly customer (as there are lots of us out here) and someone who can't fight back. Nobody will spend their money on a bully. It goes way past disappointment. He said some mean things but what he did (humiliate a regular, long-time customer in front of others) is abdominable. To stoop so low became 'the straw that broke the camel's back.'
First, your product must be reliable. If you fail to stick to your store's promises just as long as things are fine, but when they're not, you fall back on excuses, or accusations to get your point across and lose customers as a consequence, that's when a change should be made.
Customers don't "understand" being made a fool of in public, and they'd be crazy to come back for more abusive attitudes. You can say that you're right until you're blue in the face, but you are definitely a failure at your job when you don't adhere to the adage, "Customers come first" to prove your point that you are 'in charge.'
If you do what what you say you're going to do to correct a situation (not turn the tables on the customer and put the blame on him), then you can be relied on to do the right thing. The follow-through to make things right, just 'touching base,' are what makes a business person successful. Otherwise, he's a failure representing that store, and should be replaced. There is a vast difference between winners and losers in every phase of life but, in business, it makes or breaks the company's reputation in the long run if managers are allowed to run amok.
Getting it done.......2005-05-26
Great customer service is based on emapthy but how do you teach empahty to service workers? Haughton's chapter of Reading Between the Lines does it. It's the best, most practical, business-centered writing I've seen teaching empathy as part of customer servise. He draws on the example of the Union Square Hospitality Group in New York. But his concepts and examples are easily transferable. In fact, I used excerpts from the chapter to teach superviors and staff of small groups homes for people with developmental disabilities.
The "Between the Lines" chapter would be worth the price of admission but Haughton keeps scoring runs. A later chapter on CAVE people (Citizens Against Viturally Everything)is one of the best I've seen on overcoming organizational resistance to change. As Haughton puts it so succintly, "Every organization has an immune system with antibodies that attack all changes automatically." Haughton covers a series of proven strategies for creating healthy change in an organization before CAVE people can run it into the ground.
Buy this book, study it, and help your business of nonprofit thrive.
Book Description
The complete guide to every aspect of leadership communications, How to Say It(r) for Executives offers everything current and future leaders need to know to get their ideas across powerfully, efficiently, and humanely. Full of practical tips, words, outlines, and models, this guide shows how to:
- Prepare and deliver effective speeches and talk to large and small audiences
- Reinforce a message with effective use of nonverbal language
- Avoid words and phrases that undermine authority
- Foster participation during meetings
- Handle difficult or hostile people with grace
- Write briefly and clearly
Customer Reviews:
Pretty good.......2007-01-16
One of the better books for Executive communication... could have been more comprehensive covering more grey areas though
Review by the Business Librarians of the Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh.......2005-07-20
The lights go down. The speaker strides confidently towards the podium, pauses and makes eye contact with the audience. And from the very first moment you know, instinctively, that it's going to be an excellent presentation. An experience like this reinforces your desire to create your own unique aura of self-confidence. What can you do to make this happen?
One thing you can do, right away, is to get a copy of Dr. Phyllis Mindell's book, How to Say It for Executives: The Complete Guide to Communication for Leaders. It's an excellent guide for acquiring and practicing the communication skills you'll need to get ahead and stay there, complete with exercises, charts, lists, examples, and a simple format that makes it all easy to digest.
Primary among those skills is something obvious but often overlooked: listening. When you pay close attention when others are talking, instead of interrupting or jumping to conclusions without hearing the entire story, it will be noticed and appreciated. Of course, a favorite chapter for us here at the library is "Reading Like a Leader," in which the author doesn't tell what to read, but rather how to read - both speedily and deeply - in ways that will build skills in analysis, synthesis, and argument. A chapter on nonverbal leadership breaks down the powerful code spoken by gesture, dress, and body placement.
Preparing a presentation is the centerpiece of How To Say It For Executives, and Dr. Mindell meticulously lays out each step of the process. Before you begin, gather some information about the audience. The speech should be written out, using an absolute minimum of sentences that begin with "I", and rehearsed. The most objective way to find out how you really look and sound in front of an audience is to videotape the speech. After viewing it, turn off the sound and watch it again. Now that you know where improvement is needed, complete the assignments in each chapter that target problems commonly faced by public speakers.
You never know when hostile or difficult people will be in the audience. One individual can spoil an entire presentation by monopolizing the floor or asking inappropriate questions. The author offers several techniques for tactfully handling a variety of problems and disruptions that can occur in an open forum.
Perhaps the most valuable lesson in How to Say It for Executives is this: Make a concerted effort to stop using weak words like "I feel", "sort of", "I guess" and "I think" in everyday conversations as well as presentations. Instead of coming across as tentative and unsure, practice substituting phrases that will make your sentences strong and persuasive. Although the advice in this book is directed primarily to those in leadership positions, anyone but a hermit will find life is made much easier by becoming a better communicator.
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Executive dissent: How to say no and win
Auren Uris
Manufacturer: AMACOM
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General
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Management & Leadership
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| Business Ethics
| Consolidation & Merger
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| Distribution & Warehouse Management
| Industrial
| Information Management
| Leadership
| Management
| Management Science
| Motivational
| Negotiating
| Operations Research
| Planning & Forecasting
| Pricing
| Production & Operations
| Project Management
| Quality Control
| Risk Assessment
| Statistics
| Strategy & Competition
| Systems & Planning
| Systems Analysis
| Teams
| Total Quality Management
| Training
ASIN: 0814454739 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Mississippi Business Journal, published by Venture Publications on May 26, 2003. The length of the article is 1547 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Getting hired a multi-step but rewarding process: 'once you're in, you can't believe how good it feels,' says technician.(Angela Horton at Nissan Motor Company Ltd. in Canton, Mississippi)
Author: Lynne W. Jeter
Publication:
Mississippi Business Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 26, 2003
Publisher: Venture Publications
Volume: 25
Issue: 21
Page: 61(2)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
How To Think Fast On Your Feet (Without Putting Them In Your Mouth) is a book for the business professional who doesn't know what to say when... There are certainly many everyday work situations when business people are at a loss for words-when someone says something that throws them off or the agenda changes-when things turn out the way someone hadn't planned they would. Then, of course, there is also the confrontation! How To Think Fast offers the readers an understanding of why it is a person clutches on the verbal draw, goes blank or hesitates. It then goes on to offer a series of easy-to-master tips and skills to help one become faster on his or her feet. Included in the lesson is the "Four-Step Fast Formula," if followed, ensures that a person will always have the right thing to say at the right time as well as solutions for getting one's foot out of one's mouth when he or she has said the wrong thing! The book includes many of the "tricks and secrets" used by the improvisational comedy actor-the ones that keep them quick and agile and laser fast. It also includes fun and interesting homework assignments at the conclusion of each chapter and also "scenarios" to make its points.
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Bureaucratic Personality and Organisation Structure
Christopher W. Allinson
Manufacturer: Gower Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Organizational Behavior
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Negotiating
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Social Situations
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ASIN: 0566007126 |
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Tips for the Traveling Salesman
Herbert N. Casson
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0766160920 |
Book Description
Tips for the Traveling Salesman is one of the first of its kind. The work of a traveling salesman is entirely different from the work of any one else. This book is offered to all sales managers and traveling salesmen in the hope that it may enable them to sell more goods more easily and pleasantly.
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Fair credit reporting : fast facts (SuDoc FT 1.32:C 86/2)
Manufacturer: Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Office of Consumer & Business Education
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Credit Ratings & Repair
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ASIN: B00010S0AG |
Books:
- Strategy in Emerging Markets: Telecommunications Establishments in Europe (Studies in Global Competitiion, 8)
- Studies in the Economics of Uncertainty in Honor of Josef Hadar
- Study Guide for Baumol/Blinder's Macroeconomics: Principles and Policy, 10th
- Success on Our Own Terms: Tales of Extraordinary, Ordinary Business Women
- Successful Corporate Fund Raising: Effective Strategies for Today's Nonprofits
- Technical Analysis Applications In The Global Currency Markets Second Edition
- The Academic Scribblers
- The Acquisitive Society
- The CENTERLESS CORPORATION: A NEW MODEL FOR TRANSFORMING YOUR ORGANIZATION FOR GROWTH AND PROSPERITY
- The Economics Of Standards: Theory, Evidence, Policy
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Social Security in the 21st Century
