A bloody mess: how has Britain's privatization scheme worked out? Well, today, they're looking enviably upon Social Security.(A Special Report On Saving Social Security)

A CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT SWEEPS TO POWER for a second term. It views its victory as a mandate to slash the role of the state. In its first term, this policy objective was met by cutting taxes for the wealthy. Its top priority for its second term is tackling what it views as an enduring vestige of socialism: its system of social insurance for the elderly. Declaring the current program unaffordable in 50 years' time, the administration proposes the privatization of a portion of old-age benefits. In exchange for giving up some future benefits, workers would get a tax rebate to put ...