Vom "Deficit Accounting" zum "Generational Accounting ": Eine Anwendung für die Schweiz

The stance of fiscal policy is commonly assessed by the size of the annual budget deficit and public debt. Both indices fail, however, to correctly reflect the long run financial burden of government programs such as social security. An alternative to "deficit accounting" is "generational accounting" which in particular reveals the intergenerational distribution effect of government legislation. The present paper applies generational accounting on the pay-as-you-go financed part of old age pension in Switzerland. It compares the generational accounts with payroll contributions with a reform which finances future deficits of the pay-as-you-go system using VAT. Since over the life cycle consumption taxes are later paid than wage taxes, using VAT for partly financing old age pensions lowers the financial burden of the young and future generations.