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It’s better than the alternative which is no democratic oversight of how Wells Fargo or Goldman Sachs uses or invests teachers pension funds. It was just power

• lotsofpulp 7y ago
  It would be far easier to just implement IRAs and let people vote by deciding themselves where to invest.
  • fennecfoxen 7y ago
    Don't be absurd. We can't let people own their own retirement savings. We need to entrust that money to CALPERS, so that they can use our retirees' savings as a political cudgel, divesting from certain companies for ideological reasons, and buying board seats on others to exert their influence. The political machine doesn't just feed itself. It takes other peoples' money and abuse of the public trust to make the magic happen. (Worry not. If there's any shortfall from investing money politically, California taxpayers will make up for it.)
    • guelo 7y ago
      As if giving the money to Wall Street to manage doesn't give them immense political power.
      • lotsofpulp 7y ago
        Total stock market index funds are about as good as it gets right now, given the capacities of most people and their lack of interest in investing.
• navigatesol 7y ago
  >no democratic oversight of how Wells Fargo or Goldman Sachs uses or invests teachers pension funds. Why should anyone have a say in where the money is invested except the pension fund itself? And why isn't it the teacher's pension fund's responsibility? They can't even put their money in a bank that aligns with their investment philosophy, but you want them to run the money themselves??