Canada

A very broad range of restructuring options for Social Security has been discussed over the past decade. The Clinton administration proposed allowing investment of Social Security surpluses in equities markets to increase returns, in addition to a system of supplemental individual retirement sayings accounts. At the beginning of his second term, George W. Bush proposed a major initiative to allow individuals to partially opt out of Social Security into a system of funded individual accounts. Even though Bush has significant majorities both chambers of Congress, the political sensitivity of Social Security and the absence of an immediate funding crisis make passage of a major reform package very much an uphill battle.