[quote=Leorocky]You realize that means jacking up the contributions (both employer and employee) at least 5x, right? Assuming you just want to invest the money in Treasuries. Which means more taxes, which comes from where?
You just wont get the growth that’s needed to make the numbers work.
So yea, the pension, like the rest of the government, is 100% dependent on the private sector.[/quote]
Firstly, the private sector is 100% dependent on the government. Who do you think provides the social, legal, military, and physical infrastructure that private sector depends on? Who funds the vast majority of basic research (the riskiest and most expensive research, which is why the private sector won’t generally go there) from which most of our “innovations” come? The government does all of that.
But, back to the pension topic…yes, contribution rates would be higher, as they should be — but not 5X higher if we would finally address the bubbles, booms, and busts that destroy our economy. There would be far less volatility, and we would not see “pension holidays” where public employers paid NOTHING toward pensions for years, and then deal with the following “pension crisis” because the pensions are underfunded when markets normalize and bubbles pop. We would not get unsustainable pension boosts with the (false) assumption that “the market” will pay for it. We would not see the volatility in funding status, either. Employers and employees would have predictable expenses, making the budgeting process MUCH simpler and more efficient, and less prone to fraud and abuse, as well.
Nothing at all wrong with that.
And this all dovetails nicely with my rant against the Federal Reserve and their destructive manipulations. They are causing tremendous damage to our economy, and it’s not over yet, IMHO.
