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Keating stays blind to unintended consequences - Tony 13:30:12 07-Aug-08
- The K(heating) of Computer Industry Execs - NotPinback 13:20:49 30-Jan-09
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| As was my mother, I'm an unashamed Paul Keating admirer and have real reasons to regret that his prime ministership was so much briefer than Australia needed. The education technology policy work we delivered during his reign was entirely shelved by his reactionary successor and he did make that most admirable speech at Redfern. But like so many others with a much better than average view across time, in at least the area of compulsory superannuation he remains so wedded to his good thoughts from an earlier millennium that he has blinded himself to their unintended consequences. What our 9% super, American pension funds, and their like around the world, have done is put all of the cream from our apparently booming economies into the hands of a bunch of psychologically adolescent risk-seeking "traders" who are incapable of seeing beyond the wavelets of ever more choppy markets—a really curious anomaly when superannuation's (and pension funds') whole raison d'etre is to ensure quality of life for retirees. That needs long term investment predicated on long term good, not something our political processes or media commentators have ever been interested in, let alone the markets. Sure we still should go to 15% but only after we can ensure accountability for long term quality of life consequences of investment decisions. (Yes, this is going to become a more substantial part of a chapter somewhere. I just could not neglect the pretext to post a placeholder.) |
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Keating stays blind to unintended consequences - Tony 13:30:12 07-Aug-08
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