1. See N. G. Mankiw “Social Security reform: National saving and macroeconomic performance in the global economy ” speech delivered at the Council on Foreign Relations 18 January 2005; available at www.whitehouse.gov/cea/20050118-Mankiw—CFR.pdf.
2. Social Security Administration “Social Security programs throughout the world ” available at www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/progdesc/ssptw/index.html.
3. We focus on the countries included in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
4. Gale W. G., Shoven J. B., Warshawsky M. J., Private Pensions and Public Policies (Brookings Institution Press, Washington, DC, 2004).
5. Other countries such as Singapore have defined contribution programs that are not “individual accounts” because they offer little or no individual choice over investments.