Path-Breaking Research on Social Security Wins Samuelson Award

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Path-Breaking Research on Social Security Wins Samuelson Award

The author of a unique work on critical issues surrounding Social Security has been named the winner of the eighth annual Paul A. Samuelson Award for Outstanding Scholarly Writing on Lifelong Financial Security. The award, presented by the TIAA-CREF Institute, continues the Institute's emphasis on original research with implications for all American households.

The 2003 award will be presented to Peter A. Diamond for his book,"Taxation, Incomplete Markets, and Social Security" (MIT Press). The work analyzes the wide array of economic forces that bear on specific Social Security policy issues and on the saving decisions of individuals.
Needed for Saving

Without Social Security, many workers would not save enough for retirement, according to Professor Diamond's findings. Convincing some people to work longer and to delay receiving benefits from the strained system is also an important concern for Social Security, and the book discusses optimal retirement incentives for people with different life expectancies and diverse preferences for leisure.

A Certificate of Excellence was awarded to Joseph P. Newhouse for his book, "Pricing the Priceless: A Health Care Conundrum" (MIT Press). Professor Newhouse focuses on the efficiency of health care pricing and also analyzes the economic policy issues within Medicare.

Peter A. Diamond is Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is widely considered the world's foremost scholar in the field of social insurance. He is also the current president of the American Economic Association.

Joseph P. Newhouse is John D. MacArthur Professor of Health Policy and Management at Harvard University and Director of the Division of Health Policy Research and Education. He holds appointments in the Medical School, the John F. Kennedy School of Government, the School of Public Health and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Six noted scholars served as judges for the 2003 award: Dora Costa, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Michael D. Hurd, Director, RAND Center for the Study of Aging, Senior Economist, RAND; Stephen A. Ross, Franco Modigliani Professor of Finance and Economics, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; John Rust, Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, University of Maryland; David A. Wise, John F. Stambaugh Professor of Political Economy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Stephen P. Zeldes, Benjamin Rosen Professor of Economics and Finance, Graduate School of Business, Columbia University.

The Paul A. Samuelson Award, which carries a $20,000 cash prize, will be formally presented at the Allied Social Sciences Association's annual meeting at the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina on January 3, 2004.The winner of the award is determined by an independent panel of judges, and the competition is administered by the TIAA-CREF Institute, the research and education arm of the TIAA-CREF organization. The award was named after Nobel Prize winner Paul Samuelson in honor of his achievements in the field of economics, as well as for his service as a CREF trustee from 1974-85. The Certificate of Excellence carries a $1,000 cash prize.