Eric M. Patashnik Julis-Rabinowitz Professor of Public Policy, professor of political science, and director of the Master of Public Affairs Program, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University.

1. Introduction: trust funds and the politics of commitment; 2. Political transaction costs, feedback effects, and policy credibility; 3. Trust fund taxes vs general fund taxes; 4. Social security; 5. Medicare; 6. Highways; 7. Airports; 8. Superfund; 9. Barriers to trust fund adoption: the failed cases of energy security and lead abatement; 10. Conclusions: The structure and normative challenge of promise-keeping.

This book provided the first comprehensive study of a significant yet little-studied feature of the American welfare state.