American Pension Funds' Failure to Finance Critical Infrastructure Despite Trillions in Assets
By
bigbobbeeper
A baker's-dozen of insight crammed into one ring.
Summary
The article critiques the American pension system's failure to effectively allocate capital for critical infrastructure projects despite managing trillions in assets. It argues that while pension funds collect massive fees, they fail to finance essential projects like grid transmission, nuclear plants, housing, and industrial capacity. The piece examines the disconnect between the financial sector's rhetoric about efficiency and the reality of waste and corruption, questioning why the economics profession hasn't addressed these systemic failures in capital allocation.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledWhile Cass is on target in pointing to the waste and abuse in the financial sector, the big question is where is the rest of the economics profession?
Supposedly, eliminating waste and corruption was the mantra of 'free trade' neo-liberals. But the massive waste and corruption in the financial sector is easy for anyone with clear eyes to see.
Everyone who reads this publication knows what needs to get built. More grid transmission. More nuclear plants. More housing. More automated industrial capacity.
The policy conversation has gotten good at identifying the demand side: permitting
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