A Long-drawn-out Polemic that is Far from Over: a Review of the Controversy about the Effect of Social Security on Savings in American Academia

Back in the 1960s, the effect of social security on savings had been concerned by American academia. But it was only after Feldstein pointed out that social security had reduced private savings greatly in America until 1974 that the controversy about this problem came to a white heat. Many famous pundits threw themselves into investigation about this problem, brought forward a variety of analytical methods and viewpoints, but an acknowledged conclusion has not come into being until today. US academia debate on this problem is the dispute of social security reform road in essence. So we should not pander to a viewpoint like sheep, particularly should not be anxious to take a viewpoint as the basis for their proposition of social security reform, But should learn from their research methods, absorb the advantages and keep moving on.