Contribution to discussion on reform of pension system

This essay focuses on the pension system and highlights some of its key elements. The first part deals with the economic principles connected with the social security system. Eatwell's model is utilized to give some basic intuition of terms and concepts used in the pension reform discussion. The second part classifies pension systems from different perspectives and discusses some of the factors relevant for the Czech reform effort. The last part brings the main arguments of the pay-as-you-go supporters that seem to be missing in the current Czech debate. The aim of the authors is to show that a pension reform is a rather complex problem where no fast, simple and impartial view solutions exist. Rather than giving any particular recommendations, the authors try to stimulate the current pension reform debate by stating some controversial issues.