MItt Romney offers a prescription for the ailing US economy that hews to Republican principles. But it also has some unorthodox differences. Well-off Americans could get fewer government benefits and pay more for Medicare.

Mitt Romney’s prescription for the sluggish US economy looks to be straight from the traditional Republican mold: Cut taxes to stimulate growth, and cut spending to shrink the federal deficit. Pour more money into defense. Promise to root out waste in government.

And then, the economic road map of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee swerves off in an unexpected direction: means testing for recipients of Medicare and Social Security.

That means well-to-do Americans would eventually get a lesser share of benefits from those big government entitlement programs than they do now.

“We don’t need Social Security to provide retirement income for upper-income people,” says Glenn Hubbard, a top economic adviser to Mr. Romney and the dean of the Columbia University Business School here, in an interview.

“The nation can’t afford a very large program that’s across the board. What we can do is focus on people who really need help.”

More Top Stories

Fed May Not Be Able to Tame Volatile Trading

Chrysler Agrees to Recall 2.7 Million Jeeps

Icahn Proposes Tender for 1.1 Billion Dell Shares

G8 Welcomes Japan's Economic Policies, Abe Says

Why Yellen Should Be Next Fed Chief: Former Official

More Top Stories