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Benjamin Veghte

Director, WA Cares Fund, Washington State Department Of Health
Areas of Expertise:

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(202) 452-8097

About Benjamin

Veghte's research explores how capitalist democracies can effectively mitigate social inequality. He has published on issues related to Social Security; retirement security; Medicare; health insurance; social insurance; and housing policy. Veghte holds a Ph.D. in European intellectual history from the University of Chicago and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School. He taught comparative social policy and comparative politics as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Bremen; Germany; until 2008; and served as a social policy consultant for the European Union. He is a member of National Academy of Social Insurance.

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | In the News | Publications

Contributions

Reaffirming Social Security in an Era of Rising Inequality

Key Findings Brief,

How the GOP-Backed Ryan Plan Threatens Middle-Class Retirement Security

  • Eric Kingson
  • Nancy J. Altman
Basic Facts Brief,

Social Security is in Good Shape – And Does Not Drive the Deficit

    Theda Skocpol
Basic Facts Brief,

No Jargon Podcast

Episode 83:
21st Century Safety Net

In the News

Quoted by Richard Eskow in "The #RepublicanClassWar's New Front: Social Security for the Disabled," Huffington Post, February 12, 2015.
Quoted by in "Elder Poverty - However You Measure It - Is Not Going Away," Reuters, February 11, 2014.
Opinion: "Health Care Consumes over a Third of Social Security Check," Benjamin Veghte, Huffington Post, January 22, 2014.
Opinion: "House Ways and Means Committee Misleads Hill on Chained CPI," Benjamin Veghte, Huffington Post, November 6, 2013.
Quoted by in "The House GOP Dials a Wrong Number on the Chained CPI," Los Angeles Times, November 5, 2013.
Opinion: "As Budget Conference Begins, 1.5 Percent 2014 Social Security COLA Underscores Need to Address Retirement Security Crisis," Benjamin Veghte, Huffington Post, October 30, 2013.
Guest on Al Jazeera America's Inside Story, October 24, 2013.
Quoted by in "Interest Groups Eye 'Grand Bargain' with Alarm," Congressional Quarterly, October 21, 2013.
Opinion: "Republicans' Latest Ransom Note: Cut Social Security or the Economy Gets It," Benjamin Veghte, Huffington Post, October 14, 2013.
Opinion: "5 Reasons Why a Grand Bargain Would be a Grand Betrayal," Benjamin Veghte, Huffington Post, October 7, 2013.
Opinion: "Orszag Underestimates Chained CPI Cut," Benjamin Veghte, Huffington Post, May 16, 2013.
Opinion: "Chained CPI Cuts Average Social Security Benefits by $15,615 - Even with Bump-Up for Older Retirees," Benjamin Veghte, Huffington Post, April 24, 2013.
Guest on Fox 5 (DC) News, April 11, 2013.
Opinion: "Don't be Fooled by Misleading Report Calling for Chained CPI," Benjamin Veghte, Huffington Post, March 24, 2013.
Interviewed in "Interview on the Condition of Social Security from a Global Perspective," Voice of America, August 24, 2010.
Opinion: "Contributions or Taxes? Two Social Security Funding Paradigms," Benjamin Veghte, National Academy of Social Insurance, Discuss blog, April 15, 2010.

Publications

"Social Security – Past, Present and Future" in Social Policy and Social Justice, edited by Michael Reisch, (Sage, 2014), 309-346.

Analyzes key features of the program and how they evolved, the role of Social Security in the economic security of various groups of Americans, the sources of the system's funding challenges, and reform options and their implications.

"Should Social Security’s Cost-of-Living Adjustment be Changed?" (with Virginia P. Reno, Thomas N. Bethell, and Elisa A. Walker), National Academy of Social Insurance, Washington, DC, March 2011.

Studies the consequences of shifting the basis of cost of living adjustment for Social Security to the chained Consumer Price Index – a change proposed by many recent deficit reduction commissions.

"Strengthening Social Security for the Long Run" (with Janice M. Gregory, Thomas N. Bethell, and Virginia P. Reno), National Academy of Social Insurance, Washington, DC, October 2010.

Traces the long-term cuts in benefits flowing from Social Security reforms enacted in 1983, and documents strong public support for maintaining and improving the program.

"Economic Status of the Aged" (with Virginia P. Reno, Thomas N. Bethell, and Elisa A. Walker) in Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, 7th edition, edited by Robert H. Binstock and Linda K. George, (Elsevier, 2010), 175-192.

Analyzes why American elders saw sharp gains in their incomes and declines in poverty during the 1960s and 1970s, while subsequent gains have been smaller; shows that U.S. elders are more likely to be poor than elders in other western countries.

"Social Policy Preferences, National Defense and Political Polarization in the United States" (with Greg M. Shaw and Robert Y. Shapiro) in Social Justice, Legitimacy and the Welfare State, edited by Steffen Mau and Benjamin Veghte, (Ashgate, 2007), 145-168.

Analyzes shifts in public preferences for spending on defense and social programs, and explores how Republicans successfully framed spending issues for the 2004 election.

Social Justice, Legitimacy and the Welfare State (with Steffen Mau). (Ashgate, 2007).

Provides an overview of public opinion research on the legitimacy of social benefits and willingness to pay the taxes needed to finance them.