Suchergebnisse

Over the last twenty years a number of governments have sought to reconcile the competing claims of capital and labor by encouraging employees to acquire ownership of capital in lieu of wage or salary increases. There is now a range of social ownership models which involve significant transfers of capital and steps towards new types of "common ownership." The present article examines and compares several such social ownership schemes, in Sweden, the US, the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, and Chile, and discusses the successes and shortcomings of each, with an eye towards employee ownership of companies and control of funds. It is determined that, in terms of the provision of pensions itself, there appears to be no compelling social or economic reason to replace publicly run "pay-as-you-go" systems of social insurance with redistributive benefit formulas. A new proposal is then put forth for Great Britain, a "third way" which builds on aspects of Sweden's plan as well as arguments for a greater democratic voice in financial systems, with the aim of achieving greater collective influence over the deployment of capital through forms of social ownership. 35 References. T. K. Brown

THIS ARTICLE MAKES USE OF A MAJOR REPORT BY THE WORLD BANK TO DESCRIBE HOW PENSIONS AND PENSION FUNDS GLOBALLY ARE NOW SO SIGNIFICANT THAT THEY RAISE CRUCIAL QUESTIONS OF MACRO-ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT AND DEMOCRATIC ACCOUNTABILITY. AFTER THIS DESCRIPTION OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PENSIONS AND PENSION FUNDS, THE ARTICLE CONCLUDES THAT THE WORLD BANK'S THEORY THAT PRIVATIZATION EXTENDS CHOICE, CAPITAL MARKET DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IS SIMPLY NOT SUPPORTED BY THE AVAILABLE EVIDENCE.