Miti e paradossi della previdenza sociale / Myths and Paradoxes of Social Security

Abstract disponibile solo in lingua inglese

Myths and Paradoxes of Tax Justice is the title of a well-known book by Luigi Einaudi. The present paper deals with similar questions in a related field. When a social security system is first introduced, it often appears as a device for distributing benefits to the living cohorts without anybody paying for them, or even with every subsequent cohort reaping benefits. Social security is furthermore deemed to be a powerful instrument for a more equal distribution of incomes and for allowing parliaments and governments to apply their long-sightedness. This paper shows that these and other widespread beliefs are either logically inconsistent or empirically disproved by the experience of most countries.