Thank you for the kind comments. “State Entrepreneurism” is the third in a series of articles that I have written on Social Security Reform.

It seems that we are of similar thinking as to the funding problem. My first two articles have an analysis that is similar your comments about the Larry Summers interview at http://oxfordswfproject.com/2009/06/25/sstf-a-new-american-swf/

In the first article, “Full Funding: The Future of Social Security” I make the case for transitioning from a PAYGO system to a system funded by a portfolio of diversified assets. The paper is located at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=904404

In my second article, “The Public Trust in Private Hands: Social Security and the Politics of Government Investment” I discuss how such an investment fund could be structured to address the concerns of conservatives that Professor Summers mentioned — i.e. the fear that government investment will lead to meddling in corporate governance. That paper is at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=963534

The third paper on “State Entrepreneurism” is a work in progress. In my view, the rise of SWFs and the increasing level of government investment as a result of the financial crisis presents a new opportunity for institutional change in the way we fund social security. Both formal rules and informal norms (and beliefs) about government investment are in the process of changing. Some call it “socialism” or a negative effect of the welfare state, but the more compelling analysis is that we are expreiencing a shift in the way capitalism works. The challenge will be to integrate government investment without losing the entrepreneurial spirit and innovation that is characteristic of a liberal market economy.

It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintenance through this blog. I look forward to exploring it and your research in more depth.

Best regards,

Ben Templin
Associate Professor
Thomas Jefferson School of Law
San Diego, California