Howwillthedistributionofwelfare,consumptionandleisureacross householdsbea®ectedbysocialsecurityreform? Thispaperaddresses this question for social security reforms with a two-tier structure by comparing steady states under a realistic version of the current US systemand under the two-tier system. Therst tier is a manda- tory, dened-contribution pension o®ering a retirement annuity pro- portionaltothevalueoftaxespaid,whereasthesecondtierguarantees a minimumretirement income. Ourndings, which are summarized in the introduction, do not in general favor the implementation of pay-as-yougo versions of the two-tier systemfor the US economy.
Using a representative-agent life-cycle model with consumer shortsightedness, I study an unfunded social security program financed via consumption taxation. Compared to financing an unfunded program with payroll taxation, I find that there is only a slight increase in well-being across planning horizons that is generated by a program with a consumption tax. ∗I acknowledge and thank T. Scott Findley for his guidance and serving as my thesis committee chairman, James Feigenbaum and Ryan Bosworth for serving as thesis committee members.
We report enhancement of the mechanical stability of graphene through a one-step method to disperse gold nanoparticles on the pristine graphene without any added agent.