Description
With the aging of the U.S. population, there is much speculation about the future of the Social Security and Medicare programs. Will they be able to provide for the increasing number of elderly people? And, if they can, will their cost endanger the federal budget and the economy? Vocal segments of society are calling for radical reform of these programs. In False Alarm, Joseph White makes the case against radical reform, advocating instead for incremental change.Reviews
"This book is compelling in almost every way. White takes on all challengers, and he does so with clarity and simplicity that downplays the depth of his understanding . . . Although it is intended for a popular audience, it contains all the spending estimates, actuarial tables, projections, data analysis, and comparative policy discussion that should appeal to policy experts."—American Political Science Review"Drawing together an impressive range of existing studies and displaying a dazzling grasp of program and budgetary details, White shows again and again that critics of Medicare and Social Security have hidden highly contested value judgments behind a veil of public-spirited alarmism. Despite treading familiar ground, False Alarm bristles with original arguments."—Health Affairs "Joe White's book is a model of political economy, a clear-eyed analysis of the sense and nonsense in budget projections, the use and misuse of demography in discussions of aging, and a clarifying account of the purposes and constraints of social insurance. For those who wonder about the future of Social Security and Medicare, this is a godsend of a book."—Theodore R. MarmorYale University, author of The Politics of Medicare
Author Information
Joseph White is Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy, Department of Political Science, and Director of the Center for Policy Studies, Case Western Reserve University.
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The Future of Long-Term Care: Social and Policy Issues