Bush Says Chile Has Lessons for U.S. on Social Security

April 23, 2001

President Ricardo Lagos of Chile was in Washington this week to discuss free trade with President Bush, but in the customary press conference Bush showed that his thoughts were on what is becoming a favorite topic: Social Security reform.

"I think some members of Congress could take some lessons from Chile, particularly when it comes to how to run our pension plans," Bush said. "Our Social Security system needs to be modernized, Mr. President, and I look forward to getting some suggestions as to how to do so, since you have done so well."

José Piñera, the founder of Chile's fully privatized system of personal retirement accounts, is a distinguished senior fellow at the Cato Institute and co-chairman of Cato's Project on Social Security Privatization. As Chile's secretary of labor and social security, he was the architect of that country's successful privatization of its pension system.

For more information on pension reform in Chile and its lessons for the United States, see Piñera's "Empowering Workers: The Privatization of Social Security in Chile."

"It's your money, your choice, your future."

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