Humanities & Society

McBride”The problems with Social Security can be solved easily compared to those of Medicare,” says Timothy McBride, leading health economist and associate dean for public health. “Social Security can be fixed right now, although most people don’t want to solve it with tax hikes. We cannot solve Medicare as easily. Medicare is in a serious crisis relative to Social Security,” he says. McBride is available to discuss Social Security and Medicare.

BernsteinAccess to affordable health care has been a recurring topic in current political discussions. Merton C. Bernstein, leading health insurance expert and law professor emeritus says that Medicare is the most practical platform for both extending coverage to everyone and taming medical cost inflation. He is available to discuss the candidates’ health care proposals.

“The problems with Social Security can be solved easily compared to those of Medicare,” says Timothy McBride, leading health economist and associate dean for public health at Washington University in St. Louis. “Social Security can be fixed right now, although most people don’t want to solve it with tax hikes. If passed today, a one-percentage point tax increase on both employers and employees could solve the Social Security problem for 75 years. If we don’t want to raise taxes, another option is to cut benefits by a similar amount and we’re done.” McBride says that the tax increase needed to fix Medicare would be six or seven percentage points in the long run. “We cannot solve Medicare as easily. Medicare is in a serious crisis relative to Social Security,” he says. McBride believes that as soon as the next President is elected “we will hear that we need to solve Medicare and Medicaid.”

Veteran New Yorker journalist Elizabeth Kolbert will explore the debate over global warming based on her groundbreaking book “Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change” for the Assembly Series on Wed., Sept. 17, at 4 p.m. in Graham Chapel.

Veteran New Yorker journalist Elizabeth Kolbert visits the WUSTL campus at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 17, in Graham Chapel in the next installment of the Assembly Series. Her book, “Field Notes From a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change” (2006) has been applauded as an unbiased overview of an urgent environmental crisis. Growing out of […]

Washington University has organized a team of staff and administrators to help ensure that media are getting the support and technical assistance necessary to prepare for coverage of the Oct. 2 vice presidential debate. Click here to download a .PDF of primary university contacts and vendor liaisons in the categories listed below. Washington University Vendor […]

Veteran New Yorker journalist Elizabeth Kolbert will explore the debate over global warming based on her groundbreaking book “Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change” for the Assembly Series on Wed., Sept. 17 at 4 p.m. in Graham Chapel.

BernsteinAccess to affordable health care has been a recurring topic in current political discussions. Merton C. Bernstein, leading health insurance expert and law professor emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis says that Medicare is the most practical platform for both extending coverage to everyone and taming medical cost inflation. He is available to discuss the candidates’ health care proposals.

Now that the U.S. government has taken the controls of distressed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, American taxpayers facing billions of dollars in losses in home loans issued by the private sector are left wondering, “What does this mean for me?”

In this election year and with the Vice Presidential Debate Oct. 2, a host of programs, projects and panels have been developed to engage students, faculty, staff, alumni, friends and neighbors in the electoral process.