DIMITRI B. PAPADIMITRIOU is Jerome Levy Professor of Economics and Executive Vice President of Bard College, and President of The Levy Economics Institute, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, USA. Dr. Papadimitriou was vice-chairman of the Trade Deficit Review Commission of the US Congress and has testified in the US Senate and Congressional Committee Hearings on Banking and Finance and Small Business. He is a member of the editorial board of Challenge. He is author and editor of the Levy Economics Institute Series, editor of Profits, Deficits and Instability, Aspects of Distributi

• Economic Perspectives on Aging: An Overview; D.B.Papadimitriou PART I: WELFARE STATE AND THE INCENTIVES TO RETIRE European State Welfare Regimes and their Generosity Towards the Elderly; A.Boersch-Supan Comment; S.Nisticò Global Demographic Trends and Provisioning for the Future; L.R.Wray Comment; R.Startz PART II: ASPECTS OF ECONOMIC WELL-BEING AND GENDER DISPARITIES AMONG THE ELDERLY Net Government Expenditures and the Economic Well-Being of the Elderly in the United States, 1989-2001; H.Kum, E.N.Wolff & A.Zacharias Comment; R.Haveman Differing Prospects for Women and Men: Young Old-Age, Old Old-Age, and Eldercare; L.B.Shaw Comment; R.Antonopoulos PART III: CHANGING PATTERNS OF RETIREMENT BEHAVIOR Working for a Good Retirement; B.A.Butrica, K.E.Smith & E.Steuerle Comment; L.G.Schmidt Net Intergenerational Transfers from an Increase in Social Security Benefits; L.Gan, G.Gong & M.Hurd Comment; D.L.Thornton PART IV: INTERACTION BETWEEN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC PROVISIONING The Changing Role of Employer Pensions: Tax Expenditures, Costs and Implications for Middle Class Elderly; T.Ghilarducci Comment; Z.Bodie Retiree Health Benefit Coverage and Retirement; J.Marton & S.A.Woodbury Comment; B.Wolfe PART V: BUDGETARY AND MACROECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF AGING Population Forecasts, Fiscal Policy and Risk; S.Tuljapurkar Comment; C.Burdick Wage Growth and the Measurement of Social Security's Financial Condition; J.Gokhale Comment; S.A.Kelton PAT VI: RETIREMENT SECURITY: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS The Adequacy of Retirement Resources among the Soon-to-Retire, 1983-2001; E.N.Wolff Comment; B.Harrington Minimum Benefits in Social Security; M.Favreault, G.B.T.Mermin & C.E. Steuerle Comment; R.K.Triest