Martin Feldstein to Keynote Cato Social Security Conference

December 18, 2000

The Cato Institute has formally announced Privatizing Social Security: Beyond the Theory, a two-day conference to be held at Cato's Washington, D.C. headquarters in February of next year. Keynoting the event is Martin Feldstein, a leading economist and expert on Social Security reform.

President-elect George W. Bush made Social Security reform based on personal retirement accounts a centerpiece of his campaign, and exit polls showed 57 percent of voters supporting his proposal. With the election now decided the new Bush administration must act on reform, and the Cato conference on February 6-7, 2001 will help translate theory into a real working system of individually owned, privately invested accounts.

Keynoting the conference is Martin Feldstein, Professor of Economics at Harvard University and President of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Feldstein, who served as the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Reagan Administration, is a leading expert on pension reform and a top Social Security advisor to the Bush campaign. He is the author of more than 300 academic papers and the author or editor of many books, including Privatizing Social Security (University Chicago Press, 1998).

Other confirmed speakers will explore the politics, policy and economics of Social Security reform. Two days of panels will examine why we need to privatize Social Security and how to do so, including how to finance the transition; how to regulate and administer individual accounts; how privatization will affect women, the poor, and minorities; and the politics of privatization. An agenda follows this story.

Since 1979 the Cato Institute has been seeking alternatives to the current Social Security system and has published more than 40 books, articles, and reports outlining the program’s problems and crafting innovative policy solutions. To learn more about Social Security privatization and to register for this conference, go to www.socialsecurity.org or call (202) 218-4633.

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