1. According to the National Center For Policy Analysis (NCPA), what is the difference in the rate of return between the U.S. system and the rate of return in the Chilean system?
2. Name two pieces of economic evidence that Piñera cites which illustrate the success of the privatized pension plans.
3. According to Piñera, what is the mandatory percentage of income that must be placed in the private account, and at what level of income does that percentage start to decrease?
4. How does the Chilean system insure against a retiree (who has been working for a while) whose pension fund is very low?
5. What were the two main ways that Chile financed the transition from the pay-as-you-go system to the privatized system?
6. How do the AFP's help to regulate companies in which they invest?
7. How does Piñera point out that the workers have "voted" for the market, and how is this statement somewhat misleading?
8. According to Soto, how did Chile pay for the transition to personal accounts?
9. According to Soto, what percentage of potential earnings is siphoned off by administrative fees and costs (in his model) over a length of 23 years for a personal account?
10. According to Soto, as the system gets older, what is the percentage increase of workers in Chile who will receive the minimum pension guarantee benefit ?
11. What did Tim Penny propose to reform Social Security before 2013 when the Trust Fund will be bankrupt?
12. Why does Tim Penny suggest that calling the Social Security Trust Fund a "trust fund" is dubious?
13. What is Robert Shapiro's solution to the transition problem?
14. What is Sam Beard's primary argument for privatizing a portion of Social Security contributions?
15. What did the Ibbotson analysis find about the average rate of return in the stock market over the last 20 years?
Extra Credit: What is the argument for the current system being disadvantageous to blacks?