National Center for Policy Analysis: History

 

Establishment of the Social Security / Medicare Program

In 1980, NCPA President John Goodman wrote the first published study on privatized Social Security, an American Enterprise Institute book concerning Britain's system, which allows employers to contract their workers from the second tier of the state pension scheme. The NCPA has maintained its focus on reform of the subject throughout its history under the leadership of Goodman.

  • Beginning in the 1980s, the NCPA produced a series of studies documenting the future financial nightmare of the current Social Security and Medicare systems without radical reform. The center's forecast predicts both programs will consume one-half to two-thirds of workers' incomes by the time today's 20-year-olds retire
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  • In 1988, the NCPA published the first international summary of private alternatives to Social Security in 130 countries, including case studies of pension reform in Great Britain, Chile and Venezuela.
  • In 1995, the NCPA published an analysis of Singapore's system of mandatory private retirement savings and individual MSAs. The conclusion: Singapore’s ideas were significantly more effective and efficient than the welfare state approaches of both the United States and Europe.
  • Since the late 1990s, the NCPA has supported the development of an economic Social Security and Medicare model by economists at Texas A&M University. The model enabled the Social Security reform commission to examine alternative proposals for reform.
  • The NCPA used the model to develop the most advanced interactive Social Security calculator on the Internet (http://www.mysocialsecurity.org). The NCPA’s prediction of Social Security benefits is as much as 30 percent more accurate than other calculators, including the one used by the Social Security Administration.
  • In 2003, the NCPA formed a three-year partnership with the National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) to bring the message of Social Security reform to 10 million African Americans through a volunteer network called Team NCPA, which grows in membership at a rate of 500 per month.