The Pension Challenge: Risk Transfers and Retirement Income Security

Olivia S. Mitchell is Executive Director of the Pension Research Council, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania , and also a research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Her academic research explores private and public insurance, risk management, public finance and labour markets, and compensation and pensions, with a US and an international focus. Previously she taught at Cornell University, visited Harvard University and the University ofNew South Wales, served on the Us Department of Labor's ERISA Advisory Council, and served as a Board Member for Alexander and Alexander services, Inc. She recently served on President Bush's Commission to Strengthen Social Security. She received her PhD in Economics from the University ofWisconsin-Madison.Kent Smetters is an Assistant Professor in the Insurance and Risk Management Department at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously he worked at the Congressional Budget Office, visited the Stanford Economics Department, and served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy of the US Treasury. His research interests include intergenerational risk sharing within households. He received his PhD in Economics from Harvard University.