September 21 - 22, 2000
This was the second of two forums jointly convened by the TIAA-CREF Institute, the Brookings Institution, and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) to examine the foundations and future of the nation’s private pension system. The first symposium was held on September 17, 1999 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
This conference is based on the idea that ensuring adequate retirement income will be one of the most pressing public policy issues of the next several decades. Although social security reform has dominated retirement discussions in recent years, a number of factors – including financial pressure on the social security system, the lengthening of lifespans, the breakdown of family networks, and the declining level of personal saving – imply that private pensions will be required to play an increased role in meeting future retirement needs.
There exists a need to examine appropriate public policies for pensions over the course of the next several decades. This involves synthesizing what is known about pensions and pension policy; developing new research to fill in the gaps; and providing the policy making community with a blueprint of prescriptions – and the scholarly backing for those prescriptions – for effective and durable reform. The goal of this conference was to make a timely and important contribution to rigorous analysis of pension issues and to what is sure to be an important policy debate.
