Event Summary
Populations of the major industrialized countries are growing older and grayer by the decade, raising the specter of big public sector budget deficits.
Now, in the U.S., the debate centers on how to keep Social Security solvent. In Europe and Japan, the projected costs of public pension plans also point to severe financing problems within the next few decades.
How serious and imminent are these problems? Which countries will be hardest hit? Can Social Security be saved or should it be privatized?
Brookings convenes a panel of leading experts to explore the domestic and international policy implications.