Speaker: Krzysztof M. Ostaszewski.
Title: The Social Security System as a Part of Capital Markets.
Affiliation: Illinois State University.
Date: Friday, April 18, 2003.
Place and Time: Room 101 - Love Building, 3:35-4:30 pm.
Refreshments: Room 204 - Love Building, 3:00 pm.

Abstract. The Social Security system in the United States is the largest social insurance system in the world, and an important instrument of public policy. However, it also is a part of the overall market of capital assets. That perspective is largely ignored in the existing literature on the system. In this work, we look at the capital assets created within Social Security, and how their pricing by the system relates to the capital markets within the private sector. We point out that the composition of an efficient frontier suggests arbitrage opportunities between Social Security and private capital markets, especially when portfolios optimal from the point of view of real returns are considered.