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A Lesson from the Crash of 2008: The Misguided Paternalism of the Qualified Default Investment Alternative

Excerpt: In this article, [Edward] Zelinsky discusses the federal government's promotion of common stock investments for 401(k) participants. He suggests that, in light of the Crash of 2008, that promotion constitutes misguided paternalism.

Resolving Zubik v. Burwell: Health Savings Accounts Could Be a Solution for Religious Employers

"The Court appears to be seeking a method by which religious employers can themselves not finance or be implicated in the provision of birth control while, at the same time, such contraception is provided through the insurance companies the employers engage to furnish health care coverage to their employees.... [T]here is such an approach: Any religious employer objecting to contraception should have the right to instead fund an independently-administered health savings account (HSA) or health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) for each of its employees.... Under this approach, an employee of a religious employer who desires extra prescription eyeglasses could use her HRA or HSA for that purpose -- while her co-worker could use that account to obtain birth control. In neither case would the religious employer participate in the employee's decision how to expend her health care account dollars."

A Balanced Package of Tax Increases and Benefit Reductions Would Allow Boomers to Retire without Bankrupting Offspring

As the financial problems of Social Security and Medicare became more acute, I became increasingly troubled by the AARP's refusal to address them. The AARP's effective opposition to reforming these entitlement programs has implemented perfectly the ethic of Baby Boomer narcissism.

Proposal for Reducing the Federal Deficit: Make 2011 Be a 'No COLA' Year

"I propose that we designate 2011 as the No COLA year. Under this proposal, in 2011 no cost-of-living adjustments would be implemented in the federal budget or tax law. When COLAs resume for 2012, any inflation which occurred in 2010 will be permanently disregarded. In a spirit of universal sacrifice, the suspension of COLAs in 2011 would be across-the-board.... The alternative of doing nothing is worse and will, in the long run, result in greater taxes and more disruption to entitlement and other spending programs."

State-Administered Retirement Plans for the Private Sector: A Bad Idea

Excerpt: Legislators throughout the country are proposing that states start to administer private sector retirement savings plans. While the details of these proposals vary from state to state, they all provide that the states should embark upon the business of managing private sector individual account arrangements.

Presidential Pensions as Broken Windows

"Why should federal taxpayers pay a post-presidential pension to a former President who is willing and able to enrich himself after he leaves the White House? ... [T]he presidential pension presents the classic case of a 'broken window,' the relatively small incident which suggests deeper disarray. The same 'broken windows' effect occurs when former state legislators manipulate state pension laws, taking short-term but highly paid state executive positions to boost their retirement pensions."

California's S.B. 185, Thermal Coal, and the Fallacies of Social Investing

"[California Senate Bill no.] 185 requires public employee pension plans to divest their investments in publicly-traded companies that derive half or more of their revenue from 'the mining of thermal coal.' ... [T]he social investing mandated by S.B. 185 is a misguided way to pursue environmental or other worthwhile goals. Social investing by pensions is both wrong as a matter of law and ineffective as a matter of policy."

The Thatcherism of State-Sponsored Private Sector Retirement Programs

"Margaret Thatcher would likely have been uncomfortable with a legally-imposed mandate requiring private sector employers to participate in a state-run pension plan. It is also likely that she would have preferred that the state not compete with commercial pension providers -- though she might have been mollified by the prospect that part or all of these state programs will be outsourced to private firms. However, Margaret Thatcher would probably have viewed state-sponsored private sector retirement plans as stimulating stock ownership by low income employees. This she would have strongly supported."

Deferring the Cadillac Tax Kills It

"The Cadillac tax is a decidedly modest reform compared to the real solution for the underlying problem -- namely, making all health insurance premiums taxable income to the employees covered by such premiums. Nevertheless, the tax was an initial step in the right direction.... The delay of the Cadillac tax reflects an unfortunate reality: On a bipartisan basis, our elected officials denounce high healthcare costs but are in practice unwilling to take the painful steps necessary to actually control such costs."

President Obama, the Senate, and State Private-Sector Retirement Laws

"Hopefully, the senators' letter to President Obama will contribute to an important national debate about a serious problem -- namely, the failure of low-income Americans to save for their retirements. The California and Illinois laws represent one possible approach to mandate private sector retirement savings with a state-run plan as the default option.... But these are not the only options that exist for federal and state lawmakers.... Justice Louis Brandeis famously said that the states are laboratories for experimentation. The subject of private sector retirement savings is well-suited to such experimentation."