|
Around the world, pay-as-you-go government public pension systems
are running up against the hard-edged reality of demographics. According
to the World Bank, by 2030, 25 percent of the population in most
of the world’s leading economies will be over 65 years old. The
trend is most pronounced in the industrialized countries of Europe,
the United States, and Japan, where the percentage of the elderly
will double, so that almost one-third of their citizens will be
aged 65 or older. But developing countries are experiencing similar
strains.
Worldwide, lower birthrates and increased life expectancy are reducing the ratio of workers to retirees. To compensate for this demographic squeeze and to sustain public pension systems, governments will be forced to dramatically increase taxes, sharply reduce benefits, or both. In the United States alone the Social Security program’s trustees estimate the payroll tax will have to be increased by as much as 50 percent.
However, out of this crisis new and innovative alternatives have developed, as countries around the world experiment with different forms of privatization. Recognizing the revolution in privatization, the Cato Institute and The Economist first hosted “Solving the Global Public Pensions Crisis,” held in London in December 1997. Delegates from 38 countries attended.
Since that time, more countries have opted for private, individually
based pension programs, including several of the post-Communist
Eastern European nations. Following the success of the first conference,
the Cato Institute and The Economist cosponsored “Solving the Global
Public Pensions Crisis II: The Privatization Revolution,”at the
Roosevelt Hotel in New York on March 9–10, 2000.
The conference participants evaluated the experiences of countries
that have privatized government pension plans, examined more recent
moves toward privatization, and looked at issues for the future
in both the United States and abroad.
| March
9, 2000 |
|
8:00–9:00 a.m.
|
|
Registration—Ballroom Foyer Continental Breakfast
|
| 9:00–9:15 a.m. |
|
Opening Remarks—Grand Ballroom
Edward H. Crane, President, Cato Institute
|
|
9:15–10:00 a.m.
|
|
Keynote Address
“The Worldwide Revolution in Pension Reform” José Piñera,
Former Secretary of Labor and Social Security, Chile;
Co-Chairman, Project on Social Security Privatization, Cato
Institute
Listen to the RealAudio Archive
(Part1)
Listen to the RealAudio Archive
(Part 2)
|
|
10:00–10:15 a.m.
|
|
Break
|
|
10:15 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
|
|
Success Stories: Evaluating Privatization in Practice
Panel Chair: Henry Hsiang, American International
Companies
Hugo Santa María, Head of Research & Chief
Economist, Apoyo Consultoria S.A., Peru
Felipe Ortiz de Zevallos, President, APOYO
Institute, Peru
Jacobo Rodríguez, Assistant Director, Project
on Global Economic Liberty, Cato Institute
Fernando Solís Soberón, President, CONSAR,
Mexico
Tomasz Frontczak, President, AIG-PTE, Poland
Listen to the RealAudio Archive
(Part 1)
Listen to the RealAudio Archive
(Part 2)
|
|
12:00–1:30 p.m.
|
|
Luncheon—Terrace Room
Doug Atkin, President and CEO, Instinet Corporation
Listen to the RealAudio Archive
|
|
1:30–2:30 p.m.
|
|
Variations on Privatization
Panel Chair: Daniel Mitchell, Heritage Foundation
Nick Sherry, Senator for Tasmania, Australia
David Willetts, MP, Shadow Secretary of State
for Social Security, Great Britain
Göran Normann, President, Normann Economics
International, Sweden
Listen to the RealAudio Archive
|
| 2:30–2:45 p.m. |
|
Break
|
|
2:45–5:00 p.m.
|
|
Technical Issues: Making Privatization Work
William Shipman, Principal, State Street Global
Advisors
Shane A. Chalke, President & CEO, AnnuityNet.com
Derek Winegard, American Skandia Marketing
Drake Mosier, CEO, Emergent Advisors
Ermanno Pascutto, Former Executive Director,
Ontario Securities Commission
|
| |
| March
10, 2000 |
|
8:00–9:00 a.m.
|
|
Registration—Ballroom Foyer Continental Breakfast
|
|
9:00–10:15 a.m.
|
|
Why Social Security Should Be Privatized—Grand Ballroom
Panel ChairL Leanne Abdnor, Alliance for Worker Retirement
Security
Michael Tanner, Director of Health and Welfare
Studies, Cato Institute
Tim Penny, Former Congressman (D–Minn.)
Charles Murray, American Enterprise Institute
|
|
10:15–10:30 a.m.
|
|
Break
|
|
10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
|
|
Special Cases: A Look Ahead
Panel Chair: Stewart Ritchie, Scottish Equitable plc
Klaus Friedrich, Chief Economist, Dresdner Bank AG,
Germany
Milton Ezrati, Chief Investment Officer, Nomura Capital
Management
Boris Nemtsov, Former Deputy Prime Minister, Russia
Sun Jianyong, Deputy Director-General, Department
of Social Insurance Funds Supervision
O-Seong Kweon, Director of Public Policy Division,
Center for Free Enterprise, Korea
Listen to the RealAudio Archive
|
|
12:00–1:30 p.m.
|
|
Luncheon—Terrace Room
Jack Kemp, Co-Director, Empower America; 1996 Republican
Vice Presidential Candidate
Listen to the RealAudio Archive
|
|
1:30–2:00 p.m.
|
|
Closing Remarks
Michael Tanner, Director of Health and Welfare
Studies, Cato Institute
|
|
