ShareIn my recent post on greed, I wrote about how for the last generation corporations have been trying to get out of as many of their expensive obligations to workers as they can reasonably get away with.  The list of obligations includes but is not limited to pensions, health care and job security.
One can [...]

ShareYesterday, I argued that the United States faced a policy dilemma in avoiding debt deflationary forces while maintaining fiscal prudence.  The reality is that President Obama faces political constraints in Washington right now in regards to budget deficits.  He is not likely to get another stimulus package through the Congress unless he can credibly demonstrate [...]

We are in a secular bear market. What this means for many pensioners or for many about to become pensioners is great uncertainty about the quality of their retirement. I expect this uncertainty to translate into anger regarding the move from defined benefit pensions to defined contribution pensions. Whether a policy response results depends on how stocks do over the next few years. Nevertheless, in my estimation, we are about to understand that human psychology and defined contribution plans are at loggerheads.

An issue that has received scant acknowledgment in the media is the likely hole in pension funds books resulting from the recent out in shares. Pension funds must invest the money they receive today in order to provide pensioners funds tomorrow. The problem is that pension funds have been overestimating the likely returns for years and now that we have hit a rough patch in the economy this poor actuarial accounting is about to catch up with them.

ShareApparently Lehman not only failed, it left a gaping hole its accounts. The UK pension scheme is missing £100 million. UK regulators certainly need o investigate whether the shortfalls are the result of criminal activity.
However, pensions are certainly something lurking in the background that I have failed to discuss. As the stock [...]