Books : Nonfiction : Politics : Social Security

In 2030, as 77 million baby boomers hobble into old age, walkers will outnumber strollers; there will be twice as many retirees as there are today but only 18 percent more workers. How will America handle this demographic overload? How will Social Security and Medicare function with fewer working taxpayers to support these programs? According to Laurence Kotlikoff and Scott Burns, if our government continues on the course it has set, we'll see skyrocketing tax rates, drastically lower retirement and health benefits, high inflation, a rapidly depreciating dollar, unemployment, and political instability. The government has lost its compass, say Kotlikoff and Burns, and the current administration is heading straight into the coming generational storm.But don't panic. To solve a problem you must first understand it. Kotlikoff and Burns take us on a guided tour of our generational imbalance, first introducing us to the baby boomers -- their long retirement years and "the protracted delay in their departure to the next world." Then there's the "fiscal child abuse" that will double the taxes paid by the next generation. There's also the "deficit delusion" of the under-rep

Security Studies is the most comprehensive textbook available on security studies.

It gives students a detailed overview of the major theoretical approaches, key themes and most significant issues within security studies.

• Part 1 explores the main theoretical approaches currently used within the field from realism to international political sociology.
• Part 2 explains the central concepts underpinning contemporary debates from the security dilemma to terrorism.
• Part 3 presents an overview of the institutional security architecture currently influencing world politics using international, regional and global levels of analysis.
• Part 4 examines some of the key contemporary challenges to global security from the arms trade to energy security.
• Part 5 discusses the future of security.

Security Studies provides a valuable teaching tool for undergraduates and MA students by collecting these related strands of the field together into a single coherent textbook.

This reader brings together key contributions from many of the leading scholars in the field, offering students an informed overview of the most significant work in security studies.

The editors chart the development of the key theoretical and empirical debates in security studies in the Cold War and post-Cold War periods, introducing the ideas of the most influential ‘past masters’ and contemporary thinkers on security in the UK, US and elsewhere.

The book is divided into five areas:

• What is Security?
• Security Paradigms
• Security Dimensions and Issues
• Security Frameworks and Actors
• The Future of Security.

In order to guide students through the issues, the book has a substantial critical introduction exploring the development of security studies, as well as introductory essays that provide an overview of each section, highlighting clearly how the readings fit together. Suggestions for further reading and key questions for discussion are also included.

Security Studies is an invaluable resource for all students of security studies and international relations.

As the aging population of the United States continues to increase, age-related policies have come under intense scrutiny and have sparked heated debates. This revised and updated edition of The New Politics of Old Age Policy explains the politics behind the country’s age-based programs, describes how those programs work, and assesses how well—or poorly—they meet the growing and changing needs of older Americans.

The chapters address theoretical approaches to age-based policy; population dynamics and the impact of growing diversity within the older population; and national, state, and local political issues associated with major age-based programs. The contributors are leading experts whose essays range across disciplines, including political science, sociology, law, social work, social welfare, and gerontology.

More than any other source, this book presents the most current information on growing older in the United States, including detailed analyses of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, housing initiatives, the Older Americans Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and tax policy.

Contributors: Christina M. Andrews, M.S.W., University of Chicago; Jeffrey A. Burr, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts–Boston; Andrea Louise Campbell, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Caroline Cicero, M.P.L., University of Southern California; Kerstin Gerst, Ph.D., University of Texas Medical Branch; Judith G. Gonyea, Ph.D., Boston University School of Social Work; Colleen M. Grogan, Ph.D., University of Chicago; Madonna Harrington Meyer, Ph.D., Syracuse University; Christopher Howard, Ph.D., The College of William and Mary; Ryan King, S.B., Renewable Energy Systems Americas, Denver, Colorado; Sandra R. Levitsky, Ph.D., University of Michigan; Frederick R. Lynch, Ph.D., Claremont McKenna College; Laurie A. McCann, J.D., AARP Foundation Litigation, Washington, D.C.; Kimberly J. Morgan, Ph.D., The George Washington University; Jan E. Mutchler, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts–Boston; John Myles, Ph.D., University of Toronto; Christy M. Nishita, Ph.D., University of Hawaii; Jon Pynoos, Ph.D., University of Southern California; Richard A. Settersten, Jr., Ph.D., Oregon State University; Molly E. Trauten, M.G.S., Oregon State University; Cathy Ventrell-Monsees, J.D., Attorney, Chevy Chase, Maryland; Janet M. Wilmoth, Ph.D., Syracuse University

A crisis is looming for baby boomers and anyone else who hopes to retire in the coming years. In When I'm Sixty-Four, Teresa Ghilarducci, the nation's leading authority on the economics of retirement, explains how to confront this crisis head-on, revealing the causes behind the increasingly precarious economics of old age in America and proposing a bold plan to guarantee retirement security for every working citizen.

Retirement is one of the hallmarks of a prosperous, civilized market economy. Yet in America today Social Security is on the ropes. Government and employers are dismantling pension security, forcing older people to work longer. The federal government spends billions in exemptions for 401(k)s and other voluntary retirement accounts, yet retirement savings for most workers is falling. Ghilarducci takes an unflinching look at the eroding economic structure of retirement in America--and what she finds is alarming. She exposes the failures of pension regulators and the false hopes of privatized Social Security. She tells the ugly truth about risky 401(k) plans, do-it-yourself retirement schemes, and companies like Enron that have left employees without any retirement savings. Ghilarducci puts forward a sweeping plan to revive the retirement-income system, a plan that will ensure that, after forty years of work, every American will receive 70 percent of their prere

Over the past decade, a new awareness of the relationship between conflicts and development has grown. Developmental factors can act as a trigger for violence, as well as for ending violence and for triggering post-conflict reconstruction. This book explores the complexity of the links between violent conflict (usually civil wars) and development, under-development and uneven development. It emphasizes the connections between stable developed economies and civil wars in other parts of the world, and examines how structural factors (such as the organization of the global economy) virtually condemn some regions to conflict and under-development.

This valuable introductory text explains, reviews and critically evaluates this complex relationship. It focuses on intra-state conflicts and complex political emergencies that combine transnational and internal characteristics. Attention is also given to inter-state conflicts. Chapters emphasize how the relationship between conflict and development traverses many scales (macro, meso and micro) and dimensions (economic, political and cultural). Furthermore it explains how different developmental challenges and opportunities emerge along the full life-cycle of conflict. Specifically, the role of poverty, state, market, civil society, globalization, humanitarian aid, refuges, gender and health within conflict dynamics are examined. The boo

As the ranks of the elderly continue to swell and their social welfare becomes a complex and contentious policy issue, how will the United States balance the conflicting demographic and economic demands of providing for its older citizens -- especially in light of the anticipated economic burden of the baby boom generation's impending retirement? These problems place the destiny of Social Security and health care at the epicenter of political discussion and debate, making a balanced perspective on these issues essential -- particularly as the lives of millions of future Americans will be affected. The Generational Equity Debate offers social workers, policy analysts, political scientists, and sociologists, as well as general readers concerned about the fate of the elderly, a complete range of viewpoints on this vital subject.