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Chinese economic growth is broad-based, covering agriculture, industry, and services, while India has shown strong economic growth only on the services sector. The growth prospects of the two countries depend on their continued integration with the global economy.

INTRODUCTION Slowing economic growth and population aging in the major industrial countries have placed increased financial strain on pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) public pension systems. Governments have been forced to increase contribution [...], We estimate the impact of increased pension funding on national saving, both in public budgets and in the private sector. First, the experience of U.S. state governments in managing their employee pension funds suggests that their pension accounts are managed apart from the non-pension operating budget and that it is possible to fund a pension system within the public sector. On the other hand, an examination of the experience of national-level governments indicates that a large proportion (60-100 percent) of the fund accumulation in national social insurance systems is offset within the government sector by larger deficits in other budgetary accounts. We argue that the contrasting results for U.S. states and OECD nation states can be traced to differences in the governance of the pension systems and the degree of effort that is made to separate the pension funding from other budget activities. We also examine the cross-national evidence on saving responses within the private sector to fluctuations in private insurance and pension fund accumulation. We find substantial evidence that pension saving substitutes for other forms of private saving.

The massive street protests at last July's G-8 summit in Genoa, Italy--following similar demonstrations at other international gatherings in Gotenberg, Prague, Washington, Davos, and Seattle--have focused the world's attention as [...]

LAST YEAR'S DRAMATIC ASIAN EXCHANGE RATE COLLAPSES have intensified efforts to understand and control the forces behind such crises. Until recently economist blamed currency crises on distorted domestic macroeconomic conditions. [...]

Over the next several decades the populations of the major industrial countries will grow considerably grayer. By 2030 the ratio of people past age 64 to those ages 15-64 will [...]

AMERICA'S MOST FAMOUS GENERATION APPROACHES ANOTHER MILESTONE The aging of America presents the federal budget with long-term challenges that dwarf those raised by the current effort to balance the budget [...]

HOW SECURE IS SOCIAL SECURITY? More and more Americans are beginning to wonder. Many younger Americans, in particular, profess to believe that they will never collect any benefits. And the [...]

The effects of the tax reforms of the 1980s on various economic variables are assessed. Conclusions were reached after reconciling different measurement criteria and recognizing the existence of uncontrolled factors. In general, tax cuts and legislation such as the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 and the Tax Reform Act of 1986 were not able to encourage private saving. The legislation played a minor role in the increase in labor supply but failed to increase capital investment.

Policymakers have long been interested in understanding the adequacy and distribution of Social Security benefits and in predicting the effects of reform on representative workers. This article describes two new [...]

CONGRESS SHOULD SET THE BUDGET, NOT THE CPI Last December the Advisory Commission to Study the Consumer Price Index issued a report arguing that the CPI has been overstating inflation [...]

The privatization and reforms of the Social Security system aim to produce greater national savings with lower Social Security taxes. The privatization plan presents issues that may be considered as problems if not implemented correctly. There are four basic elements comprising the privatization plan which focus on contribution of workers and rate of returns from those contributions. The appropriate reforms lead to effective improvement in living standards and reduction of poverty status among disabled and elderly workers and their families., Most public uneasiness about the future of Social Security results from workers' fear that the present system is not sustainable. This fear is exaggerated but not completely unfounded. In order [...]

In a world of mobile financial capital, the threat of financial crises will always be with us. As international investors diversify their wealth across national boundaries, the distinction between domestic [...]

The recently completed Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is a landmark achievement that deserves far more general recognition and discussion than it has received. Unlike [...]

As Congress prepares to vote on the North American Free Trade Agreement, debate is being seriously distorted by a failure to understand the economic implications of the proposed agreement. The [...]