Apfel Speaks on Social Security

Kenneth Apfel, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, spoke yesterday on the history of social security and the implications of reform at the ARCO Forum of the Kennedy School of Government.

More than 100 Kennedy School students, faculty and community members attended the address, which was the first in the "Spring Exercise" at the Kennedy School, a series aimed at helping students combine theory and practice in their studies of public policy.

According to Apfel, his work in public policy has been "the key to unlocking many doors," and he stressed the importance of public trust in making social security reform work most effectively for America as a whole.

"The stakes are very high here. This is a very important year for social security," he said many times throughout the address.

Apfel offered this anecdote to the audience:

"Do any of you remember Hill Street Blues? Well, I like to think of this issue as standing up in front of my peers like Sergeant Esterhouse speaking in front of his recruits, and saying, 'Let's be careful out there!'"

Apfel's speech focused on five basic parts of President Clinton's approach to social security reform.

Apfel spent the most time discussing the potential use of budget surpluses to increase the Social Security Trust Fund.

In the State of the Union address, Clinton voiced a preference to reserve action on these surpluses pending social security reform.

He suggested that investing these monies could extend the lifespan of the social security trust fund from one to three more years.

As it stands now, with no reform--no change in Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) or in retirement age--the trust is expected to run out in the year 2029.

At that point the amount of benefits needed will surpass the available funds and Americans will receive only seventy-five cents on every dollar that they had previously contributed to the fund, Apfel said.

One audience member, questioning the amount of time left before the trust is exhausted and mentioned a campaign that had distributed Nerf footballs printed with the words "Social Security Fumbles in 2012."

"Well, those weren't paid for by the trust fund, I assure you," Apfel replied.

Apfel also spoke about the increase in baby boomers, which he said is perpetuating a myth that the growing number of people dependent on Social Security will level off with that particular generation.

"This is not a pig-in-a-python effect," he said, "The demographics are changing for the long term."

Apfel stressed the importance of early action on this issue, to avoid younger generations being overburdened by the depletion of Social Security by current retirees and baby boomers.

Leo Trasande '94, a joint student at the Kennedy School and Harvard Medical School, and resident tutor in Adams House, said he thought Apfel's talk "provided a framework for fruitful discussion" in terms of the School's Spring Exercise Program.

Trasande said he was glad to have been "given the opportunity to participate in substantive changes in social security reform and in realizing the goals of combining theory and practice within the Kennedy School."