Pensions

As most media continue to beat the "no choice but to cut pensions" drum, we reprise a story not constrained by those assumptions. Our reporting at the end of last year demonstrated that the state’s argument that the pension promises made to public workers were not contracts is a “radical shift” from legal norms.

In a Rhode Island lawsuit, the state’s argument that the pension promises made to public workers were not contracts is a “radical shift” from legal norms.

U.S. pension funds could play a powerful role in shaping financial markets. But they tend to act more like passive customers than dealmakers.

Two recent NYT articles ignore altogether the need for a critical approach. In one, a front-pager billed as a news article, the reporter could easily be mistaken for a member of BlackRock's PR team. In the other, the reporter treated with contempt the idea that workers deserve to have bargained-for pensions benefits honored.

Did you miss this when it was first reported? With 78 million Baby Boomers heading into retirement over the next 20-plus years, how will cuts in guaranteed monthly pension benefits to both public and private sector workers — in addition to those that have already been implemented — affect the ability of future retirees to engage in economy-sustaining consumer spending?

Ultimate loss to retirees may in long-term top $40B annually, potentially curbing consumer spending.