zlacker

>>gwintr+(OP)
The "5. The Human Wreckage" section is probably the most interesting - on paper, everyone came out much worse (losers identified are workers, pension holders, shareholders, investors and executives which seems superficially comprehensive).

However it is important to recall that the people who actually made all the money extracting the wealth got out years before, retiring and/or selling stock. They're bystanders now and probably happy to run the whole operation again.

Although as an aside who these people are who think corporate pensions are a good idea is beyond me. People really should be in charge of their own savings in preference to their employer, expecting some random corporation to cover the cost was always a bit crazy even when it seemed sort-of possible that the system was stable. It is easy to have some sympathy but, as a practical matter, it was never going to work and it isn't a surprise that it didn't.

>>roenxi+Hd
> Although as an aside who these people are who think corporate pensions are a good idea is beyond me.

Ignore the practicalities and look at the story.

They're a promise that someone stronger than you will provide for you in your old age.

>>tbrown+ih1
The story also included for many years that the collective investment was stronger than the individual investments could be. A hedge fund with a bigger wallet could have more options, could have more bargaining power, could have access to investment deals that are out of reach of one individual's savings. That's a powerful story. We saw so many of the things that can go wrong, especially in 2008, but the raw idea of a larger pension fund is cheaper to run and has more financial leverage is still a good story with some truth behind it.

(As an individual investor, I do often wonder what sort of bargains and better investment options I miss out on that investing together with two or three friends with similar retirement goals could gain me by investing together as a team. I realize that's the point of hedge funds/mutual funds, but today's hedge funds/mutual funds themselves have tiered fee structure pools based in staked investment and it never feels like an even playing field if I'm trying to manage my own investments even with the competition between hedge funds/mutual funds today.)