pensions

Jeremy Grantham's quarterly piece is out now and the important topic is the lack of growth in the US. The way that Grantham paints the picture - and I believe this is an accurate depiction - the US is not just suffering from a cyclical…

I was reading through an article at Reuters on the problem that public pension plans are having with shortfalls that can only be made up via increased tax revenue, increased investment returns, or decreased benefits. The Reuters article…

According to a questionnaire given by the leftist German party "Die Linke", German pensioners have seen a significant erosion of their purchasing power over the last twelve years. Average pension payments this year after deducting all…

I note that several of the policy mistakes listed above date back to the same period, namely the late 1990s. Not only does it demonstrate the gung-ho approach of the time, but it also goes to show that policy mistakes do not necessarily…

The US pension bailout fund PBGC is already stretched and may require more taxpayer money. Now it would be taking over pensions that will be even more underfunded, with asset values way below the present value of the liabilities. And more…

The video below is from On the Edge with Max Keiser. I speak to Max during this show from 31 March about the US economy, Federal Reserve policy, financial repression and more. On the issue of financial repression, I think my view is pretty…

Some thoughts on defined benefit and defined contribution in today's world of negative real rates plus today's links

Spain is on a bad course, with recognised debt about to surge rapidly, while investor confidence in the current administration is slipping. Time for another “game changer” I think, since otherwise this car is about to crash.

Great data from the BLS comparing hourly compensation for manufacturing. The second chart looks at the benefits component of the hourly cost.

The Wall Street Journal's Stu Woo reports on how Amazon ramps up for the Christmas selling season in a much-read write-up for the paper with a focus on the thoughts of holiday season workers like 75-year old Ray Williams and his wife…