The ongoing debates about the future of social insurance programs such as Social Security and Medicare raise questions about the public's knowledge of the history of social insurance and about the impact these programs have on millions of Americans. In general, public conversations about social policies in the U.S. tend to focus on whether or not…

Identity theft is the fastest growing white-collar crime in America, increasing 40% annually. Identity theft occurs when personal-identifying information, such as a social security number, date of birth, or address, is used to commit fraud. From January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2005, 255,565 people in the United States were victims of identity…

Students are well served by course simulations that employ active learning styles and student-driven interaction. For debate on political issues, particular public policies are quite effective in stimulating that discussion. We developed an in-class simulation of political debate on the issue of Social Security. We describe the simulation itself,…