Capitalist-promoted pension gambling costs workers $2 trillion

As the capitalist economic crisis continues to deepen, the top Congressional budget analyst recently stated that U.S. pension plans have lost as much as $2 trillion in the past 15 months.

Private pension plans tied to the stock market will leave countless workers penniless upon retirement.

Peter Orszag, head of the Congressional Budget Office, said the losses have devastated workers’ savings and purchasing power, and will likely delay retirements for many people. Orszag said public and private pension funds and employees’ private retirement savings accounts have decreased by approximately 20 percent since mid 2007. Private retirement plans have fared worse than their public equivalents due to their greater dependence on the stock market and lack of professional management.

Retirement-savings and budget analysts testifying before the House Education and Labor Committee said the housing, credit and financial crises are reducing the value of pensions and other retirement funds.

“Unlike Wall Street executives, America’s families don’t have a golden parachute to fall back on,” said Rep. George Miller, chair of the committee. “It’s clear that their retirement security may be one of the greatest casualties of this financial crisis.” (Associated Press, Oct. 7)

Over half of those surveyed in a recent Associated Press-GfK poll said they worry they will have to continue working due to the declining value of their retirement savings. A recent study by the American Association of Retired People reports that one in five workers 45 and older have stopped putting money into 401(k)s, IRAs and other retirement accounts over the last year, and that one in four have had to increase their hours.

These developments stand in sharp contrast to the protection provided to the capitalist class. Even following the passage of the bailout legislation that will cost taxpayers $700 billion, Wall Street executives have been assured their multi-million-dollar bonuses will go untouched.

The capitalist class and its government representatives have aggressively promoted a transition to funds that gamble workers’ retirements in the stock market and other investments. These funds are beneficial to the capitalist system, which can set them in motion for profits in times of economic growth, but they do away with the relative safety and security of traditional pension funds at the expense of the well-being of the working class.

Pension funds are deferred wages. Workers have earned them through their labor, and they should be untouchable. All workers should have a guaranteed retirement income, and no worker should have to continue working past his or her retirement age to pay for the excesses of the capitalist class.