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Murray: European Countries Need Reform of Social Security Systems
Monday 17 May 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, May 17 (TASR) - All European countries have to undergo extensive reforms of their social security system within the next 20 years, said social scientist, writer and academic at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research Charles Murray at a conference in Bratislava on Monday.
"There won't be any other choice. If massive immigration doesn't take place, people of productive age in most of these countries won't be enough to pay for the social system," said Murray.
Murray was speaking at a conference dedicated to social security system reform entitled 'Slovakia Midway Through Reforms'. According to him, a single system should replace individual systems of social security, health insurance and pensions. "This is a certain form of guaranteed income. But this guaranteed income must be viewed as a replacement for all other allowances, not something extra that would be added on top of these allowances," he explained.
Peter Mihalyi from the Central European University in Budapest was another guest at the conference. "We've been falling behind Slovakia in the sphere of healthcare and we've been trying to copy the Slovak system," he said. "We've managed to push through a comprehensive law on health insurance, the intention of which was to introduce competition in terms of incomes. The Government has lost its internal conviction and backtracked on these reform steps," said Mihalyi, adding that the withdrawal of this law led to the breakdown of the Hungarian coalition and the government crisis.
The international conference was organised by Trend weekly and the Cato Institute (U.S.A.). Its aim was to create scope for a wider social discussion on social reforms, education, healthcare and judicial systems.
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