Indiana State University Newsroom

WHAT: “A College Student’s Guide to Social Security and Medicare: Why You Should Care and What it’s Going to Cost You” – An evening with Professor Tom Saving, Senior Fellow at Networks Financial Institute at Indiana State University and Director of the Private Enterprise Research Center at Texas A&M University

WHEN: April 18, 2007 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: College of Business, 11th floor Conference Room

WHO: Sponsored by ISU’s College of Business and Networks Financial Institute at Indiana State University

WHY: In the very near future, Medicare and Social Security will begin to place an accelerating fiscal burden on the federal government. In less than 15 years, more than 25 percent of federal income tax revenues will be required to meet the promises made by these two programs. By 2030, when current 20-year olds are nearing their years of peak earnings, more than 50 percent of federal income tax revenues will be going to provide the elderly with benefits. By the time current 20-year olds are 35 years old, their tax rates will have to rise by 13 percent, at 45, by 27 percent, at 55, by 38 percent. When they reach the full retirement age of 67 years old, their tax rates will have to be 47 percent higher than today’s rates. Is there a solution that is both politically viable and one that can rescue today’s youth from the upcoming tax tsunami? That is the question that Saving will discuss and perhaps answer.

BACKGROUND ON TOM SAVING:
A University Distinguished Professor of Economics at Texas A&M, Saving holds the Jeff Montgomery Professorship in Economics. His research has covered the areas of antitrust and monetary economics, health economics, the theory of the banking firm, and the general theory of the firm and markets. He has served as both a referee and a member of the editorial board of major U.S. economics journals and is currently a co-editor of Economic Inquiry. He has authored many articles covering the breadth of his academic interests and two influential books on monetary theory. His current research emphasis is on the benefit of markets in solving the pressing issues in health care. He has been elected President of the Western Economics Association, President of the Southern Economics Association, and President of the Association of Private Enterprise Education. After receiving his Ph.D. in Economics (University of Chicago, 1960), Saving served on the faculty of the University of Washington and Michigan State University. He moved to Texas A&M University as a Professor of Economics in 1968. He served as chairman of the Department of Economics at Texas A&M from 1985-1991 and was appointed to his current position as Director of the Private Enterprise Research Center in 1991. In 2000, President Clinton appointed him to the Board of Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds. In May 2001, he was appointed by President Bush to the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO SCHEDULE INTERVIEWS:
Contact Maria Greninger, associate director, Communications & Marketing, Indiana State University, (812) 237-4357 or via cell phone at (812) 249-8759.