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Quinn, Joseph F. Social Security Reform: Options for the Future. Journal of Applied Gerontology, Jun 2002; vol. 21: pp. 257-272

Currently anticipated Social Security revenues are inadequate to pay for the benefits promised under the current law. Therefore, some combination of revenue increases and/or benefit decreases or delays is inevitable. This article describes the demographic changes behind these long-run fiscal problems and discusses the types of Social Security reform plans that have been proposed--from modest changes in the parameters of the current system to radical reform through privatization. The article reviews the goals of Social Security and discusses the pros and cons of significant privatization. The author concludes that privatization is definitely not required to save Social Security (much more traditional approaches can do that) and that we should be very careful about radically changing a program that is so important to the economic well-being of the majority of older Americans and that has been so successful and popular for more than 60 years.
 

Larry Polivka. Neoliberalism and Postmodern Cultures of Aging. Journal of Applied Gerontology 2011 30: 173

Chuck Longino and this author began writing together about the benefits and risks of a postmodern perspective on the aging experience more than 9 years ago. Chuck Longino and this author contrasted a progressive strand of postmodernism based on the blended values of individual empowerment and collective responsibility for economic security with a neoliberal strand based on individualism and the free market as the ultimate arbiter of value, arguing that neoliberal postmodernism threatened the economic and psychological security of older people. Here the author summarizes the previous arguments by Chuck Longino and himself, then comment on events that have occurred since their last published collaboration, especially the collapse of the neoliberal economic model.